Falling for Forever
by alexopedia
Summary: After years of waiting, Luke and Lorelai are finally in the same place at the same time. What happens when they finally both realize they want to be together? AU story of Luke and Lorelai's relationship. Lots of romance and lots of drama.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a new story and I'm really excited about it! Please let me know what you think, I appreciate all feedback good and bad! I hope you like it. It is totally an AU, but I do use some scenes and some quotes from Gilmore Girls. Idk I just really had this inspiration and felt like writing it.**

 **This first chapter is a little short but the rest get longer.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Hey, Luke! Coffee please." Lorelai called out as he stormed through the door of his diner.

Luke called back as he served an older couple. "No, that stuff will kill you." The diner was fairly busy during the breakfast rush.

"Oh, well I guess I'll just have to get it myself…" Lorelai trailed off in a singsongy voice, slowly walking behind the counter.

"Damn it Lorelai!" Luke rushed to her. "Sit down, I'll get you coffee."

"Aww, thank you. My knight in shining armor."

Luke smiled as he poured the coffee. He was turned away from her and she couldn't see his face. He didn't want her to know, but he loved the way she teased him. Her personality and all her quirks made him happy. Luke turned back around and handed her the mug. "Be careful, its hot."

"Oh really? I was expecting my coffee to be cold." Lorelai smiled playfully as she took a sip from the mug. Their eyes locked for a second as he leaned on the counter in front of her. They both sprung up when the diner door opened. "Rory!" She yelled.

"Hey Mom. Hi Luke!" Rory took her seat next to her Mom.

"Don't ask for coffee, he's in a bad mood."

"I'm not in a mood!" Luke raised his voice.

"Ha!" Lorelai pointed her finger at him. "Mood!"

Luke groaned and turned around to grab the coffee pot and another mug.

"So, I'm surprised to see you here. No homework?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"No. I know I've been having a rough time at Chilton recently but I'm finally caught up."

"Aw Rory that's great. What do you want to do today?" Lorelai asked. Luke handed Rory her coffee.

"We haven't had a movie night in forever."

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Lorelai squealed. "I have to head to the inn for a couple hours, but I'll be off at one and then I can head to Doose's and get snacks."

"Sounds perfect!" Rory replied. "I can pick out the movie."

"Okay, bye honey." Lorelai kissed Rory's head as she stood up.

"Bye Mom!"

"See ya later you old grump," Lorelai said as she walked by Luke. He rolled his eyes in response. Lorelai waved to Rory as she walked out the door.

"So, how's school?" Luke asked Rory.

"Oh it's great. It's taken me a while to get adjusted but I'm good now. I really like the intensity."

"Good for you, Rory." He replied.

"Oh! I have an idea!"

"What?"

"Well, Mom and I haven't had a movie night in forever and I want it to be really great. I'll probably spend hours looking for the perfect combination of movies, but, you know what else would make it really good?" Like raised his eyebrows. "Your pie!"

"You want my pie?"

"Yes! We love your pie."

"Okay. I'd give you some now but we're kind of busy and I don't want to run out. I can bring some by later today."

"5:30 okay?"

"You got it," he said with a smile and a wink.

"Thank you Luke!" Rory got up and left some money on the counter. Right as she got out the door, Luke called after her.

"Rory!"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Take your money." He handed her the cash she left on the counter.

"But I got coffee," Rory said with a confused look.

"It's on me. You can keep your money for candy or lip gloss or something. I don't know what girls spend money on. Oh! You can use it as a tip for the bus driver!"

"Luke, it's one dollar."

"I know, but every penny counts." He held out the money.

"Okay?" Rory grabbed the money and walked away awkwardly.

Luke watched Rory until she was out of sight. Luke could tell Lorelai had been struggling for money recently. She had been coming into the diner less often than usual and when she did come, she'd order less. He knew one dollar wasn't a big deal but he hated taking money from them when he knew they were struggling. Rory's reaction clearly showed that she had no idea they were struggling financially. He wanted to help Lorelai but if she was too proud to even tell her own daughter they were having money problems, he knew confronting her about it would freak her out.

* * *

"Hey Sook!" Lorelai called as she walked into the crowded kitchen. "Woah, what's going on?"

"There's a critic! A food critic! Here! For me! I-I need this to be perfect for him."

"Wow really? That's great!"

"No it's not!"

"Woah, okay." Lorelai stepped back a bit. "Why is it not okay? You're an amazing cook."

"If he writes a bad review, no one will want to come to the inn. And then I'll have ruined the place Mia worked so hard on, and now you. We'll all be unemployed. Taste this sauce. It's it good?" Sookie shoved a spoon into Lorelai's mouth.

"Sookie!" Lorelai grabbed the spoon and put it on the counter. "Sookie, look at me." She grabbed Sookie's arms. "Calm down. You're an amazing cook. He will think you're amazing. Calm down. If you keep rushing, you'll make a mistake and then you'll ruin our lives." Sookie fidgeted. "No, I'm kidding. Slow down and do what you do best. It will all be fine."

"Okay, okay." Sookie's heart was racing.

"Deep breaths, Sook."

"Deep breaths, okay, deep breaths." Sookie breathed in and out until her heart slowed down to normal. Lorelai released Sookie's arms. "Okay. I got this."

"Yes you do."

"Yes I do."

"See you later." Lorelai said as she walked through the door.

"Bye Lorelai!"

"Did you fix it?" Michel asked.

"Everything is calm." Lorelai replied.

"Good. I couldn't take any more of her complaining."

"Michel! This is a big thing for her. She has the right to be nervous."

"Yes she does, as long as it does not involve complaining to me."

"You're despicable." Lorelai glared at him.

"And you're annoying." Lorelai rolled her eyes at his remark and walked away.

"Wait!" She said as she walked back towards him.

"What?" He asked, not looking up from the guest check in calendar.

"I'm leaving now. You're good here right?"

"Mm yes Lorelai, I can handle handing keys to people and taking keys away from people. It's not like I don't do it every day."

"Despicable."

"Annoying."

Lorelai laughed as she walked away. She dot in the jeep and drove to Doose's. She walked around grabbing every piece of junk food Taylor had stocked. Red vines, marshmallows, pop tarts, and anything that was mostly sugar.

"Wow, rotting your insides is pretty expensive." Lorelai stated as Taylor scanned each item. She watched the price go up with every item that passed and winced each time. "Ooh, 42.50. Wow."

"Is something wrong Lorelai?" Taylor asked in a condescending voice.

"No, just swipe my card." She said, handing it out to him.

"Thank you for shopping at Doose's. Come again." Taylor handed her card back after swiping it.

"Taylor I come every week."

"I'm just being nice Lorelai, move along now, you're holding up the line."

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh at the annoyed expression on Taylor's face.

* * *

"Rory! You home?" Lorelai called out as she walked in the front door. Realizing her kid was still out and about, Lorelai dropped the grocery bags on the table and went to listen to the voicemail. "Bills, bills, bills," she said as she skipped each final notice message.

" _Hey Lor, its me, Chris."_

Lorelai took her hand off the delete button when she heard he familiar voice.

" _I'm sorry I haven't called recently. I uh, lost my phone. I got a new one though and that's how I'm calling you. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be staying at a hotel about an hour out of Stars Hollow in a couple weeks. If you or Rory or both of you want to come see me, I'd really like that. Call me for more details. Okay I'll talk to you later. Bye Lor."_

Lorelai sat there after the message ended. She listened to it again. "Huh."

"Mom?" Rory called as she walked in the front door.

"Oh!" Lorelai jumped up. "Hi hon! What'd you get?" She asked excitedly.

"It's a surprise." Lorelai groaned at her daughter. "I got three movies. I figured we could start them at 6?"

"Sounds good."

"So, what do you want to do until then?" Rory asked. "Go to Luke's?"

"Um, sure. No food though. I bought a lot for tonight and we need to be able to eat it."

"Since when have we ever had trouble eating candy?"

"Never. But we have to hold that reputation. We can't slip up now."

"Okay." Rory replied with a laugh. "Let's go."

"Oh! Hold on. I need to change." Lorelai ran upstairs into the bedroom. She traded her business skirt for a tight pair of jeans and her blouse for a Bono tee-shirt. "Much better!" She said as she hurried down the stairs. She took let her hair down and ran her fingers through it a couple times, fixing it in front of the mirror in the foyer.

"Trying to impress someone?" Rory asked with a chuckle. "I don't think your hair's going to matter once they see that shirt."

"Hey! I happen to love this shirt. And no, I just had a bobby pin poking me in the head and it really hurt."

"Whatever you say…" Rory trailed off.

"Let's go." Lorelai opened the door and gestured Rory out.

* * *

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you guys back today." Luke said when the Gilmore girls walked through the door.

"Movie preparations took less time than we thought." Lorelai responded. Rory and Luke locked eyes and he winked, he wasn't sure if he should mention the pie.

"Well you can hang out here. It isn't too busy anymore."

"Aww, have people finally realized you don't serve real meat."

"What?" Luke said angirly. "I'll have you know, I have 100% real, organic meat. It is great meat and it tastes damn good!"

"Ooh dirty." Both Lorelai and Rory laughed.

"I walked right into that one. You were just kidding weren't you?"

"She was kidding." Rory answered.

"Aw geez." Luke turned away to grab a rag. He started wiping down tables.

"I think we embarrassed him." Lorelai laughed.

"Luke has no feelings, you can't embarrass him."

"I'm right here." Luke called out to both of them.

Lorelai lowered her voice to a whisper. "Uh oh, I think he heard us."

"Still here!" Luke yelled.

Rory shifted in her seat. "Okay Mom, I'm going to go hang out with Dean. I'll meet you back at the house around 5:30. Is that okay?"

"Oh yeah, sure honey. I didn't know you guys were seeing each other today."

"Yeah, neither did I. I saw him at the movie store and we haven't had much time to hang out recently because of school and today worked for both of us."

"Ok okay hon, tell him hi for me."

"I will. Bye mom." Rory kissed her mom on the cheek and stood up. "Bye Luke." She waved at him as she left the diner.

"I don't like that kid." Luke said right as the diner door shut. He walked behind the counter across from Lorelai.

"I know you don't. But he's good to Rory and he's good to me too. He's a good kid."

Luke groaned.

"So, what should I do for the next couple of hours?" Lorelai asked.

"The diner is dead. Caesar can handle it for a while. We could maybe do something." Luke proposed nervously.

"Really? You'd do that?" Lorelai asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I mean it's no big deal." Luke spoke sheepishly.

"Okay. Yeah. What would we do though?"

"I don't know. We could walk around town and just talk… or something. Maybe we'll see something that looks fun." Luke stood there. His heart was racing. He had no idea why this woman made him so nervous.

"Okay. Let's go." Lorelai said as she stood up.

"Really?" Luke asked.

"Yeah…" Lorelai said with a smile.

"Okay."

Lorelai adjusted her shirt and then held out her arm to his. He intertwined his hand with hers and followed her to the door. Their hands broke apart and he opened the door to let her out first.

"What a gentleman."

"Don't let that get out. Apparently my rep in town is the 'old grump.'"

"Nah, everyone knows under that hard shell you're a softie."

"Aw geez." He said, blushing a little bit.

Luke shut the door behind him and they walked along the street.

"So," Luke started. "Um, h-how's life?"

Lorelai chuckled a bit. "Life is… life is stressful, but it's good."

"Good, that's good." Luke put his hands in his jean pockets awkwardly. "What makes it stressful?"

"Oh, just people and… I don't know. Other things."

"What people? What other things?"

"Well, my parents, Christopher, and um. Hold on." Lorelai walked over to a park bench and sat down. She put her elbows on her knees and leaned her head into her hands. Luke walked over slowly and sat next to her. "I haven't told anyone this." She looked up at Luke; tears were forming in her eyes. "I'm kind of having money problems." Lorelai put her head back in her hands. "I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing. I just, I don't know. I spent 50 dollars on junk food today for Rory. 50 dollars that I don't have. I've been eating less, especially when Rory is at school and she stays with her grandparents or Dean or something. Ugh this is so embarrassing."

Luke put a hand on her back and rubbed gently. "Lorelai stop. This will all work out. You'll be fine, you always are. Let me help you." Luke watched as she cried into her hands.

Lorelai sniffled and looked up at Luke. "No, I can't. I can't take money from you. I'll figure it out. I just needed to tell someone."

"Okay. You tell me if you need anything."

"I will Luke, I will." Lorelai started to cry again.

"Come here." Luke said, pulling her into a hug. Lorelai cried into his shoulder and Luke could feel his flannel getting wet. After a few minutes, she pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"Sorry Luke. I'm good now."

"Are you sure?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm sure. I know I'll figure it out, I just needed to get that out. I don't really have anyone to vent to about these situations."

"You have me." Luke replied, tapping her back.

"Thank you. Um, do you want to keep walking?" She asked.

"Sure." They both stood up and kept walking around the town as if nothing happened. They talked about everything and nothing at the same time. They laughed and joked.

"There is nothing wrong with my collection of old movies!" Lorelai laughed as she yelled in defense.

"Oh sure, it's not like they're in boxes filling up every corner and every closet in your house!" Luke argued.

"Hey mister, it's called organized chaos!"

"Oh please. It's called being a hoarder."

"Huh!" She gasped. "You take that back right now! I am not a hoarder! I collect things."

"That's what they all say." He rolled his eyes when she punched him in the shoulder. They laughed as they walked up the stairs to her house, not noticing the mysterious car in her driveway.

"Um," Lorelai became serious. "Please don't tell anyone about…"

"I won't," he replied. "I promise."

"Thank you." She paused. They stood there on the porch, looking into each others eyes. "Luke, this was fun." She smiled.

"Yeah, it was." They embraced each other in a tight hug. As they pulled away, Luke thought about kissing her. This was his chance. They were alone, close together, and it was perfect. This was his moment. Just as he was about to lean in, the front door of her house opened and they jumped apart. Lorelai's eyes widened in shock when she saw who was standing in her foyer.

"Christopher?"

* * *

 **Sorry about the cliffhanger! I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible. Please please please let me know what you think! Just a little disclaimer, overall I am a L/L shipper. I love Luke and Lorelai together and I love when they're happy, but in my opinion, all great stories have drama. I can tell you for sure that this story will have drama and you will probably hate me at times but I promise it will always get better! Please review, it means a lot!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for the reviews! I really appreciate you letting me know what you think.**

 **Anyways, I know you guys aren't too happy with the whole Chris thing, but I promise it won't be a problem for long. You guys might not be too happy with the beginning of this chapter, but I promise the end makes up for it!**

* * *

"H-how did you get into my house?" Lorelai asked.

Luke's heart beat rapidly when he saw Christopher. Luke had never actually met Chris, he knew all about him and everything that happened, but this was the first time he ever saw him face to face.

"The turtle Lor. You always keep the spare key under the turtle." Christopher replied.

"Oh, I guess I forgot about that." Lorelai shifted awkwardly. "What are you doing here Chris? You said a couple weeks and you told me to call you."

"I knew you wouldn't so I came here."

Luke cleared his throat to let them know he was still standing there.

"Oh! Chris, this is my friend Luke." Lorelai said with a wavering voice.

"Hi, I'm Christopher, Rory's dad." He held out a hand to Luke.

"Yeah, I know who you are," Luke said as he shook hands with Chris.

"Chris, why are you here?" Lorelai butted in.

"I wanted to see you guys."

"Okay. Call first next time." Lorelai smiled and hugged Chris. Lorelai was surprised to see Chris but she was happy too. No matter what, she'd always love him. However, loving him does not mean she wants a relationship with him.

Luke cleared his throat again to make his presence known.

"Oh, sorry Luke. I kind of have to deal with this. I'll see you tomorrow." Lorelai placed a hand on his arm. Christopher stared at her hand until it moved. Then he looked up as Luke spoke.

"Yeah, I'll see you." Luke glared up at Christopher before walking back to the diner.

Once Luke was out of sight, Chris spoke. "So who was that?"

Lorelai crossed her arms. "What do you mean 'who was that?' I just told you that's Luke."

"No, I mean who is he to you."

"I told you that too" Lorelai shifted a little. "He's just a friend."

"Are you sure? He seems like more than that."

"No, Chris that's crazy. He just owns the diner we go to all the time."

"Why was he walking you home?"

"We were just going on a walk around town. Rory's with Dean and we both had a couple hours to spare."

"Woah woah wait. Dean? Who's Dean?" Christopher was now standing out on the front porch with Lorelai.

"Her boyfriend. They've been dating for a few months."

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend."

"You never asked."

"Rory will be glad you're here." Lorelai said, changing the subject. "But I don't think you can actually stay _here_." She gestured to the house. "Do you want me to get you a room at the Inn? Or do you have a hotel like you said in the message?"

"A room at the Inn would be great Lorelai."

"Okay, we can go set that up now. Can we not tell her you're here until tomorrow? She and I kind of have a little something special planned tonight just for us."

"Sure," he replied. "Let's go."

They got into her jeep and drove to the Inn.

* * *

"Was that? Is he? Who?"

"Full sentences Sook."

"Was that Chris that you just sent up to a room?" Sookie asked Lorelai.

"Yeah, apparently he's back." Lorelai answered seeming unfazed.

"Woah. How long is he staying?"

"I don't know."

"Wow. He's a hunk."

"Sookie!" Lorelai laughed.

"No, I know he's not a great guy but you can't deny that he's got the looks. Rory looks a lot like him."

"Yeah, she does doesn't she." Lorelai pictured Rory's face when she was born, when Christopher was still around. "Oh!" Lorelai snapped out of her thoughts. "Speaking of, Rory, I need to head back home for movie night."

"Ooh say hi to her for me." Sookie smiled.

"I will Sook, bye."

"See ya!"

Lorelai drove back home to find her daughter waiting inside.

"Hi hon! How was Dean?" She asked.

"He was great, as usual." Rory blushed.

"Okay, let's get this food setup."

"On it!" Rory replied. They grabbed out plates and platters and unwrapped every bit of junk food Lorelai had bought. After 20 minutes, everything was set up perfectly on the coffee table in order of quantity and favorability.

After they were all set up, Lorelai and Rory both went to change in to comfy, movie watching clothes. Lorelai went up to her room and changed into a tank top and a pair of purple pajama pants with monkeys all over them and the word 'juicy' on the butt. Rory changed into a pink pajama set, shirt and bottoms.

Right as they were about to settle down on the couch, the doorbell rang. Lorelai got up to answer it.

"Oh! Hi." She said when she saw who was at the door.

"Hey, um, Rory told me to drop by. I have stuff for-"

"Hey Luke!" Rory called out as she walked excitedly into the foyer. "Mom, I got him to bring pie."

"Oh, okay. Come on in." She said nervously. Suddenly her feelings towards Luke changed. She had never thought of him as anything more than a friend until Christopher's comment. Now she didn't know what to feel. The truth is, she has always thought he was extremely attractive. And he has never been anything but sweet to her when she needed it most.

Lorelai followed Luke and Rory into the kitchen and he put his bags down onto the table.

"I brought some burgers… and fries too, incase you wanted normal food. If not you can leave it in the fridge or something for leftovers. If you want to I mean."

"Aww thanks Luke." Rory said. Lorelai leaned against the counters in the kitchen watching them.

"And for pies, I brought a full peach. Half of a cherry and half of an apple." Luke unpacked the second bag he brought over.

"That's perfect. Thank you Luke!" Rory embraced Luke in a big hug.

"It's no big deal." Luke's face started to turn red.

"I'll go take these out!" Rory exclaimed, scurrying out to the living room.

"How much?" Lorelai asked him.

"Nothing. It's on me."

"Luke.."

"Lorelai, even if I didn't know you were struggling, this still would have been free."

"Thanks."

The two of them stood there for a second before he spoke again.

"So what's the deal with a certain parent?" Luke didn't want to mention his name in case Rory could hear them.

"He's fine. I got him a room at the Inn. I'm not sure how long he's going to stay."

"Are you okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm happy he's here. It's been a while."

Luke didn't respond.

"Come here." Lorelai gestured for Luke to follow her. She walked to the foyer and then out onto the patio. He couldn't help but stare at the sequined letters on her ass as she walked in front of him. He was too slow to look up as she turned around. "Hey! Eyes up here mister." She said in a playful voice.

"Sorry, but you're kind of asking for it."

They both laughed for a second before Lorelai became serious.

"I'm sorry I kind of broke down today… But it was really fun after that."

"Yeah?" He questioned with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah."

Luke took a step closer and Lorelai leaned forward. Right as she was about to close her eyes, Luke pulled away.

"Well, we can do it again sometime." Luke rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'd like that."

"Me too."

"Wait, Luke?" She said as he started to walk away. He turned around and looked back at her. "Chris and I aren't together. We don't work and I don't want to be with him. I know he's Rory's dad and it just makes sense but it isn't right. Not to me." Lorelai was expecting a heartfelt response from Luke but he didn't know what to say.

"Okay." He started to walk away again and as he got in his truck, he called back to her. "Say bye to Rory for me."

Lorelai nodded softly and once his truck was out of the driveway, she realized Christopher's car was still there. She hoped Rory wouldn't notice until tomorrow.

* * *

"What do you think about Luke?" Lorelai asked Rory after they finished their movies.

"What? What do you mean? Luke is the best."

"I-I think something might be going on with him."

"What do you mean? Is he okay?"

"Oh yeah. I mean going on with him and me."

"Mom! What did you do?" Rory said accusingly.

"Nothing, nothing. I don't know…I." Lorelai realized she needed to tell Rory what happened today to explain it to Lorelai. "Dad is back."

"Really? Where is he?" Rory asked excitedly.

"He's at the Inn. He came by the house today unexpectedly."

"How long is he here?"

"I'm not sure."

"Okay I want to talk about Dad but go back to the Luke thing. What happened?"

Lorelai shifted in her spot on the couch. "Luke walked me home after you left the diner and Chris was home and he thought Luke and I were together."

Rory burst out laughing.

"What?" Lorelai asked chuckling a little bit too.

"Nothing just," Rory laughed again. "Dad doesn't know you guys very well because you're always fighting. Although everyone in town knows Luke has a crush on you."

"He does not! I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm just overthinking things." They we're both silent in thought for a second. "Help me notice if anything is weird though. At the diner or whenever."

"Okay." Rory replied. "So, Dad."

"You can come to work with me tomorrow since he's there anyways." Lorelai suggested.

"Okay! Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

"Hey Lor." Chris said when he went up to the front desk of the Inn the next morning.

"Hey Chris, Rory is in the library."

"Okay great. We should all go out to lunch today, or something," he suggested.

"Well, Rory and I were planning on going to the diner for lunch today," Lorelai mentioned, looking through the guest book.

"That sounds perfect, we'll all go."

"You want to go to Luke's?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Well you guys go there a lot right?" Lorelai nodded. "Then I want to go there too."

"Alright. One ish?"

"Sounds great."

Christopher went to find Rory.

"Whatcha reading, kid?"

"Dad!" Rory jumped up off the chair and hugged him. "I'm so happy you're here!"

"Me too, kid. I'm jumping right into it. Who's Dean?"

Rory laughed. "Dean's just a guy. We've been dating for a few months. He's so nice and so sweet and so good to me and Mom."

"That's good. I'd love to meet him." Chris said while rubbing his daughters head.

"We're hanging out at the house on Tuesday if you want to meet him then."

"I'll be there," Chris said with a smile.

Rory hugged him again, tighter this time.

* * *

Luke was busy helping a customer at the counter and he didn't notice the two Gilmore girls and Chris walk into the diner. They all sat down at a table and Chris grabbed the menu.

"Aren't you guys going to eat?" He asked.

Both Rory and Lorelai replied in unison. "Yeah."

"You aren't looking at the menu."

The two responded in unison again. "No."

Rory explained. "We come here pretty much every day since neither of us can cook and since it's the only good food in town."

"Ah, I see."

Rory and Chris continued to talk but Lorelai tuned around. She looked up at Luke who seemed to be arguing with a woman at the counter. She stared at him in his usual flannel and backwards baseball cap. She noticed the bulging vein in his neck as he was getting more and more frustrated with the woman in front of him. She watched the muscles in his arms flex when he threw his hands up in the air. However, she didn't realize his conversation was coming to an end until he had met her gaze. Lorelai looked away back to Rory and Chris quickly with no subtlety at all. Luke grabbed two mugs and a pot of coffee and walked over to their table.

"I didn't see you guys come in," he said as he set down the coffee cups.

"You seemed occupied." Rory glanced over at the woman on the counter.

Luke started to pour coffee in their cups and he replied. "She was mad because her fries were cut too thick. I told her just to cut them in half by herself and she said no because then one of the sides wouldn't be friend. People are idiots." After Luke finished pouring the coffee, he looked up at Chris. "What do you want?"

"I'll just have some water." He answered awkwardly. Like stormed off.

"Ooh someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." Lorelai said with a laugh.

"Did you see the vein in his neck?" They both laughed uncontrollably for a minute. Chris sat there awkwardly until Luke came back with his water.

"What are you two laughing at?" Luke asked.

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all." Lorelai responded while trying to keep a straight face.

Luke rolled his eyes and turned to Christopher. "Do you know what you want?"

"Um, yeah I'll have a BLT on rye," Christopher said as he closed his menu. Luke turned to walk away but Christopher's voice stopped him. "Are you going to ask them what they want?"

"I know what they want." Luke replied. Rory and Lorelai started to laugh again as he walked away.

Luke put the coffee pot back down and went to the window into the kitchen. "Ceaser I need the usual for Rory and Lorelai and a BLT on rye."

"You got it boss!" Caesar called back. The diner started to slow down and Luke decided to wipe the counter and empty tables. He watched as Lorelai, Rory, and Christopher laughed away at the table. They looked like a family, and for some reason he was jealous. He was confused about why he felt this way. Lorelai was the most frustrating, annoying woman he had ever met. However, he realized he always looked forward to her visits to the diner. He liked fixing things around her house. He wondered where she was on days where she didn't make it in to the diner. When he was in a bad mood, it was her face that brought him joy. Could he like her?

Luke snapped out of his racing thoughts when he saw Christopher get up to use the bathroom. He walked over to their table.

"Hey, Lorelai, can I talk to you?" He gestured towards the counter.

"Yeah." She looked back to Rory, "I'll be right back, kid." Lorelai followed Luke behind the counter. "What's up?"

"What do you want me to do about the bill?" He asked quietly making sure no one else in the diner could hear him.

"Oh. Give us the whole bill, Luke. I told you I'd figure it out. Christopher will probably pay anyways."

"Will he?" Luke asked.

"What?" Lorelai shifted her weight.

"Has he ever given you money, for Rory. Child support or whatever."

Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest uncomfortably. "No… I mean, I never asked."

"Lorelai that's not okay. She's his kid too. If he's going to be in her life, especially if he's going to be in her life, he needs to help you out. Why doesn't he pay?" Luke took a step closer to her.

While they were arguing, Christopher had returned to the table with Rory.

"What's going on over there, kid?" Chris asked as he sat down next to Rory.

"Luke and Mom are probably arguing again," Rory replied, totally unfazed by the situation.

"Why would they be arguing?"

"Because they're always arguing." Rory took another bite on her food.

"Are they like…" Christopher paused. "Are they a couple?"

Rory burst out in laughter. "Dad no! Luke is just a friend. We see him everyday but nothing is going on. Not with her anyway." Rory looked down at her food awkwardly.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, everyone in the town knows Luke likes her. We can see it in his eyes." They were silent for a second. "It's been years and he hasn't done anything so… and Mom refuses to believe he doesn't hate her. Nothing is going on between them."

"Okay," Chris said, eying Luke who was still talking to Lorelai.

"I don't know." Lorelai responded nervously.

"What? You don't know why he doesn't pay you? Lorelai you need help. You deserve help and he has an obligation to Rory."

"I NEVER ASKED!" Lorelai yelled way louder then she meant to and everyone in the diner turned to watch them. Luke grabbed her arm and led her up the stairs to his apartment.

"What?"

"I never asked for money okay? You know me. You know I'm independent and prideful. I didn't want help and I didn't think I would need help because I wanted to do this on my own." Lorelai started to tear up. "I thought I could do it alone."

"Lorelai." Luke grabbed her shoulder to comfort her. "You have done one hell of a job with Rory all by yourself. You've done so well for her, and you don't need his money. I'm just saying, he doesn't deserve to walk in and out of your lives whenever he wants. You both deserve more from him."

Lorelai plunged forward into his arms with her hands on his chest. He placed one hand on her lower back, pulling her closer and the other dove into her hair. Her head rested on his shoulder and she cried into him.

"Thank you." She pulled away. "Sorry I'm crying, I'm just… I don't know."

"Lorelai, you are the strongest person I know. It's good to cry and show your feelings. I-I think."

Lorelai laughed and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Thanks Luke, for everything."

Luke smiled in response.

"I've uh… I've never been in your apartment before."

Luke looked around his apartment and was happy that he has always been extremely clean and organized. His apartment was spotless except for the mail sitting on his table.

"Oh, yeah I guess you haven't." Luke put his hands in his pocket.

"It's nice. Small, but nice. Can you even fit on that bed?" She asked with a laugh.

Luke laughed with her. "Thanks and um… no, not really."

They both stood there in silence for a minute before Luke spoke again.

"You're kind of…" he gestured to her face. "Redish and puffy."

Lorelai looked into the mirror hanging on his wall. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I look so terrible right now. I can't go back down like this."

"I know, that's why I mentioned it. Do you want a warm towel or something to hold on your face so the puffiness will go down?"

"Please, if that's okay." She pressed on parts of her face, still looking in the mirror.

"Yeah, you can sit down," he gestured to the bed. "I'll head down and warm up a towel for you."

Lorelai nodded in response.

When Luke got down the stairs, Chris walked up to him.

"Where's Lorelai? What's happening up there?"

"Lorelai is fine and it's none of your business," Luke responded in a battling tone.

"I'm going up there." Chris started to walk away but Luke grabbed his arm.

"That is my apartment up there and you have no right to go in there. You can either sit back down and wait for Lorelai or I can kick you out. Your choice."

Chris pulled away and walked back over to Rory who was oblivious because she had been watching Kirk and Taylor argue outside the diner.

Luke headed back up stairs after he warmed up a towel. He found Lorelai sitting on his bed looking at some of his framed pictures. He walked over and sat next to her.

"You were a cutie back then Mr. Danes," she said with a smile.

"Aw geez. I don't know why those pictures are sitting out." Lorelai laughed. "I got your towel."

"Thanks Luke."She looked at him with a slight smile. He could tell she wanted him to press the towel to her face for her. He dabbed the towel a few times under each of her eyes and then he pressed it to her forehead. He used the same hand that had the towel to push her hair back behind her ears. Slowly, his hand went down and they both sat there staring into each other's eyes. Lorelai knew Luke wouldn't make the first move so she started to lean in. When he realized what she wanted, he dropped the towel and put his hand on the back of her neck. Their lips met softly, but the kiss grew. More passionate each second, Lorelai and Luke pushed closer together. Luke moved down to her neck and Lorelai leaned her head back and reveled in the sensation. As Luke moved back up the other side of her neck, his kisses grew softer until he placed one last kiss on her lips.

"Oh my…" Lorelai started.

"I know."

"Um… I have to get back down there." Lorelai could barely get the words out because she was out of breath.

"I know."

Lorelai got up off the bed and fixed her hair in his mirror. She shut the door behind her when she walked out leaving Luke sitting on the bed thinking about what just happened.

"Hey. Sorry, Luke uh… needed help with his… uh… sister!" Lorelai thought up a lie quickly. "His sister needed help with her kid." Lorelai knew he had a sister and she had a kid because of the pictures he had up in his apartment.

"Oh that makes sense since Luke knows nothing about children," Rory said.

Christopher was skeptical of what happened but he decided not to push it.

"So, let's finish eating and then maybe we can go raid a bookstore."

"Yes! Mom you have to come too."

"Fine," Lorelai replied in her usual fake depressed voice.

Luke came down the stairs and got their bill ready. He gave it to Chris and walked away quickly before anyone could say anything. He watched the three of them from behind the counter and when he noticed that Christopher put money down, he grabbed it and walked away again with the same speed. Luke came back with change for the three of them and then headed upstairs.

"Caesar, I'm taking a break!"

"Okay boss!"

"What's wrong with Luke?" Rory asked.

"Oh nothing, I just think he's annoyed with his sister, or me, or both of us."

Rory laughed at her mom.

"Okay, let's go to the bookstore!" Rory exclaimed.

Lorelai groaned.

"Lor, come to the bookstore. It's not that bad," Chris pointed out.

"Oh please, if a book has more than 100 pages I'm out."

"You don't have to read any books, Lor."

"Yeah Mom, I'll read and you can watch me."

Lorelai groaned again.

"Come on," Chris said, grabbing both of his girls. The three of them walked out together.

The whole time at the bookstore, Lorelai could not stop thinking about the kiss. What did it mean?

* * *

 **Ahhhh! Finally! Please let me know what you think!**

 **I promise Chris won't be a problem for too much longer! By the way, Jess is coming and I'd really like to ten on if you guyS want me to maybe do A little about Rory's romance. I do ship Rory and Jess more than anyone else with Rory but I do like them all. Anyways, let me know because 1 won't do it it you don't want me to.**

 **Luke and Lorelai! I just want to say. Don't give up on this story if I ever make them date other people (this won it happen anytime soon). I promise (again)Luke and Lorelai are always going to be endgame. 1 will never make them unhappy for to long because I love them and I hate to see them sad. However, it does make for a good story.**

 **Please review and let me know!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys for the reviews! They really do mean a lot and I'd love if you please keep reviewing. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

"Hey Mom! I'm home!" Rory called out as she walked into their house.

"Hey , kid! I'm up here!" Lorelai yelled back.

Rory dropped her backpack next to the kitchen table and went up to find her mom. She found her wadding up clothes and sticking them into drawers.

"Mom, you're supposed to fold them or hang them. Now your clothes are going to be all wrinkled," Rory blurted in a disappointed tone.

"I'll just iron them when I need to wear them."

"That's more work!"

"Not when you only do one at a time over the course of a month. With folding you have to do a weeks worth of clothes all at once."

"You're crazy."

Lorelai smiled. "I know."

"I don't have much homework tonight so why don't we go to Lukes? We don't go there that much during the weekdays anymore. I mean you do but I don't because of Chilton and homework. Plus dad is doing some work thing"

"Oh, um…" Lorelai turned away and looked up to the ceiling. "Yeah okay."

"What was that?" Rory asked with a confused look on her face.

"What was what?"

"You totally trailed off."

"No, I don't think so."

"Mom!"

"What?" Not wanting Rory to know what happened with Luke yesterday, Lorelai went along with her. "Go change, lets go to Luke's."

Rory scrunched her eyebrows before leaving her mothers room. Lorelai decided to change too. She put on a pair of tight jeans that really showed off her ass and a tight grey v-neck. Her hair down in her natural curls that cascaded just over her shoulders. She walked downstairs to find Rory standing there with an accusing look.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"What's going on?" Rory crossed her arms.

"What do you mean?" Lorelai acted innocent.

"Mom, I know something is going on, just tell me."

"Nothing is going on!"

"Yes it is!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I kissed Luke!" Lorelai blurted out. She winced waiting for Rory's reply.

"WHAT?!" Rory's jaw dropped to the floor and her eyes shot open. "You kissed Luke?!"

"Yes." Lorelai winced as she said the word making it sound like a question.

"I don't know what to think! This is so unexpected." Rory stood there in shock.

"I know! We'll go to the diner and you can tell me if you notice anything weird. I'm not sure how he'll act. I haven't gone to the diner today so I haven't seen him since."

"Okay… this is weird."

"I know."

"How was it?" Rory asked, intrigued.

"How was what?" Lorelai was confised.

"You know…" Rory gave her a playful nudge.

"Oh! The kiss?!" Lorelai paused for a second. "It was amazing. In every way."

"Yeah okay that's weird." Rory plugged her ears and walked to the foyer. "Come on!"

Lorelai jumped out of her thoughts and followed Rory out the door. They drove over to Luke's and Lorelai was nervous to go in. They waited outside for a few minutes before Rory finally pushed her Mom into the door. Luke happened to be walking by the door and spoke as soon as they came in.

"Coffee?" He asked.

"Yes, coffee would be gre-" Suddenly Lorelai had leaned on one of Luke's tables and knocked everything off onto the floor. Luke gave a slight nod and walked away.

"Smooth. Real smooth, Mom."

Lorelai rolled her eyes at her daughter and they both picked up the mess she made.

"Hey sugars!" Babette called out from the next table over.

"Oh hey Babette, Ms. Patty!" Rory waved at the two of them.

"Something's going on," Ms. Patty whispered to Babette.

"With Luke and Lorelai rigjt?" Babette asked just as quietly.

"That's what it looks like."

"Oh they'd just be so cute together," Babette added.

"Have you seen Luke's ass?"

"Lorelai's too!"

"What?" Lorelai asked when she heard her name.

"Oh nothing honey," Ms. Patty started. "We were just talking about your skill with sewing and making things."

"Um, okay," Lorelai said awkwardly. She turned around to sit down with Rory.

"I think they know." Rory whispered to her mother.

"That's not possible. They're both crazy."

"They're never wrong," Rory pointed out.

Luke came back with two cups of coffee and then gestured to Lorelai to follow him.

"You called?" She asked when they got up to the counter.

"Hey," he said awkwardly.

"Hey." Lorelai smiled.

"We should talk."

"Yeah, we should."

"Not here." Lorelai followed Luke's glance over to Babette and Ms. Patty who were both watching them with wondering eyes.

"Later?" She asked.

"Yeah." Luke responded with a smile. Lorelai was about to walk back to Rory when Luke spoke again. "Wait." Lorelai turned around and raised her eyebrows. "Those jeans are really working for you." Luke looked down when his face started to blush.

"Really?" Lorelai asked with smirk.

"They're working for me too." Luke winked at her.

"Are you going to watch me when I walk away?" Lorelai asked happily.

"Probably."

"Ah, I'll make sure to add a little spunk to my step." Lorelai walked away awkwardly and Luke laughed.

"So?" Rory asked when Lorelai sat back down.

"We're going to talk about it." Lorelai smiled at her daughter.

"Talk about what sugar?" Babette asked.

"Oh nothing," Lorelai sat up straight. "Fishing. We're going to talk about how to fish." Lorelai added a smile at the end of her sentence to make it seem more believable.

"Oh, ew." Babette turned back to Ms. Patty.

After they finished their coffee, Rory walked home and Lorelai went to pay Luke.

"Hey," she said when she walked up to him. He was cleaning his counters just like he always does when the diner is calm.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked.

"Here's the money for the coffee." She helt out a couple dollars.

"No."

"Luke!"

"No."

"But-"

"No. I am not taking your money, Lorelai. You and Rory eat and drink free any time you want."

"Thanks," Lorelai said with a soft smile. They both stood there staring for a few seconds. Patty and Babette were gone and only Kirk and a few random customers were left.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" Luke asked.

"Only if you want to."

"I do," Luke replied quietly.

Lorelai nodded and started up the stairs to his apartment.

"Caesar, I'm taking a break!" Luke called out.

"You've been taking a lot of breaks recently boss!"

"Deal with it!"

Luke followed Lorelai up the stairs and shut the door behind them.

"Okay I'm just going to go for it here," Luke said nervously. "Lorelai Gilmore, I like you. I have liked you for so long… since day one." Lorelai opened her mouth to speak but Luke held up his hand to stop her. "Since the day you walked through that diner door I have liked you. I've tried to tell you a million times but we always got interrupted or… something just always happened and I never got a chance. Then I had to watch you date all those other guys and you were engaged and I knew you weren't interested so I gave up."

"Luke…" Lorelai started to speak again.

He looked down trying to cover his blushing cheeks. Lorelai walked up to him and lifted his head up with her finger. She placed a soft kiss on his lips, barely brushing them together. Luke smiled a bit and put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and their kiss grew more passionate. Lorelai was up against the wall before she realized they had been moving. Before she knew it, his hands were roaming her back under her shirt. She ripped at his flannel without breaking the kiss. Lorelai let out a soft moan when Luke playfully bit her lip. Now Luke's flannel was on the ground and Lorelai jumped up into his arms. He carried her over to the bed and placed her down. Luke moved down from her mouth to her neck and she couldn't help but moan. Right as her shirt was coming up, there was a knock at the door.

The two of them jumped off of each other.

"The hell?" Luke asked, grabbing his flannel. "Hold on!" He yelled at the door. Lorelai got off the bed and fixed herself up. She walked over to the kitchen area and sat at his table. Luke put his flannel back on and opened the door. He was in awe to see who showed up. "Jess? What are you doing here?"

"I'm moving in." Jess barged in with a big duffel bag and put it on the bed. "Hey."," he said, looking at Lorelai.

"Hi?" She replied.

Luke gave a demanding look to Lorelai and then turned to Jess. "Why are you here? Where is your mom?"

"Relax Luke, she sent me here to stay with you because she was sick of me."

"Okay well I'm going to go…" Lorelai called out from the kitchen.

Luke looked over to Lorelai and then back to Jess. He walked after Lorelai and led her outside his apartment door. He shut the door behind them so Jess couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry Lorelai. I had no idea he was coming here, I haven't seen him in so long this is totally unexpected."

"Luke, stop. It's fine, I totally get it. I have a kid too…" They both laughed. "Really, I get it. Go figure this out."

Luke nodded and kissed her lightly. "I really enjoyed this."

"Me too."

" _Really_ enjoyed this." He emphasized.

"I'll come by tomorrow," she said, pulling away.

"Okay," he replied at a whisper as she walked down the stairs. Luke snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a bang come from his apartment and went back in to confront Jess.

"Was I interrupting?" Jess asked when he heard the door shut.

"Yes, Jess, you were. You couldn't have called?"

"I don't have a phone." Jess replied without looking up from his book.

"Your mom has a phone."

"She kicked me out. No time to call." Jess still stared at his book.

Before Luke had the chance to reply, the phone rang.

"Hello?" He answered angirly.

" _Well hey big brother!"_

"Liz, why is Jess here?"

" _Aww I hope you're not mad… Jess just needs a little something different."_

"Yeah, like what?"

" _I want him to stay with you and finish school there in Stars Hollow. It's a good town, maybe it will make him good."_

"Liz-" Luke started to argue back but she spoke again.

" _Thank you so much! I love you big brother!"_

Luke heard a clicking noise on the other side. Luke put the phone down.

"Fine, you can stay," Luke started. "But you are going to school, and you're working for me at the Diner. If you start causing any problems, you are out of here. Understood?" Luke yelled, his face turned red.

"Fine." Jess replied in a snarky voice, still not looking up from his book.

Luke went back down to the diner and it was pretty dead so he decided to close up early. Luke went back up to the apartment to set up for Jess to stay.

"I'm going out," Jess said, putting a sweatshirt on.

"What? Where are you going?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. Wherever." Luke was about to respond but Jess had already walked out the door.

Jess walked through the square, past Doose's, past the gazebo, past Weston's and eventually he passed the Inn.

* * *

Lorelai had decided she wasn't ready to go back home to Rory yet so she went to the Inn to talk to Sookie. She decided she wouldn't tell Sookie about what happened with Luke because she knew that in this situation, Sookie would be just as bad as Ms. Patty or Babette.

Sookie had always left little hints about Luke. Now, Lorelai was starting to realize things. She realized that the time she brought her skates into the diner, Luke had offered to tighten and blades and clean them. Sookie had told her, ' _wow, you get good service here'._ Lorelai also remembered the time that he drove her to Hartford in terrible weather so she could see her dad in the hospital. He gave her a shoulder to cry on. She remembered when he brought her ice on Rory's birthday. She remembered everything about that hug. She remembered her mom telling her that he looked at her like she was ' _about to give him a lap dance'_.

In this moment, Lorelai had realized that Luke and her have always had a special connection. She was hoping to meet an amazing guy one day and fall in love and they'd get married and that would be it. She was blinding herself looking for that situation and she didn't realize that Luke had been there the whole time. That maybe he was the one she was meant to be with.

Feeling extra happy, Lorelai walked into the Inn. "Hey Sook!"

"Hey sweetie! Why are you here?" Sookie dried off her freshly washed hands and her and Lorelai sat down in the dining room.

"Oh, I don't know. Seems a little too early to go home."

"Where's Rory?"

"She's probably studying."

"That girl is something, ya know?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, she really is."

"So, what's new?" Sookie asked with a smile.

"Christopher is going to meet Dean tomorrow."

"Really?" Sookie's happy expression turned into a concerned look.

"Yeah. I'm not going, but I'll look forward to the stories from Rory."

Sookie laughed. "What else?" She asked with a knowing look.

"Um, nothing," Lorelai said, trying to keep a poker face.

"Really? Nothing? You seem happy."

"I am happy, Sook." Lorelai smiled again. "Okay, I think it's time to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye hun."

Lorelai waved at her friend and then left the Inn. As she was walking to the jeep, she saw a familiar face.

"Hey, you're Jess right?" She asked.

"Yep." He stopped and responded awkwardly.

"Yeah, I saw you at Luke's." Lorelai stopped to talk. "Why are you at Luke's?"

"I've got my reasons."

"Okay." Lorelai was taken aback by his short and rude responses. "Well I have a daughter, she's your age. Luke should bring you over sometime." Lorelai tried to be nice.

"Fine." Jess walked away after he answered with an annoyed tone.

"Jeez," Lorelai said to herself as she got into her Jeep.

* * *

The next day, Lorelai went to Luke's on her lunch break. She was surprised when she saw Jess working there, no sign of Luke.

"Hey, where's Luke?"

"He's upstairs." Jess responded to Lorelai with an annoyed voice.

"Luke?" She called out as she opened his apartment door.

"It's a tiny apartment, you don't have to yell," Luke said while rubbing his ear.

"Sorry, I'm used to screaming at Rory."

"Sorry I didn't call," Luke said, changing the subject.

"No, it's okay. I wasn't expecting you to." Lorelai paused for a second. "So, I met Jess yesterday. After he left here. I saw him in the street and we talked. Well… I talked and he sort of just stood there."

"Aw geez I'm sorry about him. Maybe being here will be good for him."

"Well, how long is he staying?"

Luke patted the cushion next to him, gesturing for Lorelai to sit down. "He is staying until the end of the school year, at least. I told him he has to go to school and work for me and we'll be good."

"I told him that you guys should come by to the house some time. I can have Sookie cook us something. It could be fun." Lorelai placed a hand on Luke's leg.

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." Luke leaned in and gave Lorelai a quick kiss.

"I also wanted to talk about something else," she said, changing the subject again.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"What are we going to tell people? About us… Do we tell them? Do we let them find out? Do we keep it a secret?"

"Uh… how about whatever happens happens. If they find out, great! If they don't, great! Let's just keep doing what we're doing and see where it gets us."

Lorelai looked at Luke with desire in her eyes. With her realizations, in this moment, Luke seemed more desirable than he had ever seemed before. Lorelai knew he was exactly the same person, he never changed. She just realized how he's been there for her and Rory in the past and it meant so much to her. No one has ever cared about them as much as Luke besides maybe Mia and Sookie.

"You're too good to me, you know that?" She said with a sheepish smile.

"You're too good for me." Luke responded and put a hand up to her face. He pushed back a section of her hair.

"No you're too good for me," Lorelai smiled and put on her best child voice. The two couldn't help but laugh.

"Come here," he said. He leaned forward and gave her a passionate, electrifying kiss.

"Damn I wish we didn't have jobs," Lorelai said when he pulled away.

Luke laughed and they both got up.

"I'll see you later today," she said when she opened the door.

"I'll be waiting." Luke followed her down the stairs and went to help Jess. Lorelai went back to the Inn to finish her work day. She was ready to go home, change, and go straight back to Luke's, but she had to work. She was also looking forward to hearing all about the whole father meets daughters boyfriend thing. Right now, everything in Lorelai's life was in place. Everything was perfect, and she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

 **So there's chapter 3! Let me know what you think. I will explore Rory's relationships a little bit more but this story will still be mostly Luke and Lorelai. Yes, Christopher is still there, and yes he will cause more problems, but Luke and Lorelai will push through it. Please let me know what you think! I really enjoy suggestions too.**

 **Next chapter should hopefully be out soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews! Please keep them coming, I really appreciate them. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Hi hun!" Lorelai said when Rory walked into Luke's on Tuesday after Christopher had met Dean. "Tell me all about it!"

Rory walked in groggily and sat down on a stool.

"It was awful." Rory dropped her head into her hands and Lorelai just laughed. "Mom!"

"I'm sorry." Lorelai tried to stop laughing. "What happened?"

"So, first of all. Right when they saw each other, Dad interrogated him. He asked him all these questions about intentions and crap. It was exactly what I expected. But then…" Rory's voice grew deeper.

"Oooh tell me tell me!" Lorelai pleaded.

"They bonded!" Rory scoffed.

Lorelai's eager face turned to disappointment. "What's bad about that?"

"They were making plans and talking about motorcycles. They acted like I wasn't even there! Maybe they should just date each other."

Lorelai laughed at Rory's horrified face.

"Coffee?" Luke asked when he came over to their table.

"Please!" Rory groaned.

Lorelai smiled seductively at Luke and he gave her a wink.

"Ugh, stop with the happiness!" Rory groaned again.

Luke's eyes widened with concern. He raised his eyebrow at Lorelai.

"She figured it out." Lorelai responded.

Luke finished pouring their coffee and then Lorelai followed him back to the counter.

"When should Jess and I come over?" Luke asked her.

"Does Friday night work? I can probably get Rory to push her studying back one day."

"That works great." Luke smiled. "We're going to get him enrolled in school today. His mom didn't work that out before she sent him here, so I have to do it."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you need help? You've never done it before."

"No, I'm fine."

"Okay." Lorelai smiled at Luke again. She sat there staring at him for a few minutes. Luke looked around the diner to see who was there and to see if anyone was watching. When the time was right, he pulled Lorelai behind the curtains in front of the entrance to his apartment. Lorelai stood against the wall and Luke gave her a passionate kiss while holding her face with both hands.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Luke said quietly.

Lorelai smiled before walking out from behind the curtains back to Rory.

"Ready?" She asked.

Rory responded with a groan and stood up. As they walked out the door, Lorelai looked back and gave Luke another wave.

* * *

That Friday, it was time for Jess and Luke to come over. Lorelai had Sookie come over and prepare dinner early so it was ready by the time the guys got there. A few minutes late, just like Lorelai had hoped, the guys showed up.

"Hey!" Lorelai greeted when she answered the door. "We met briefly at the diner and the Inn, I'm Lorelai." She held out her hand to Jess but he ignored it.

"I know. I'm Jess." He replied with his hands in his pockets. Then, without any invitation, Jess started wandering around the house.

"Oh well, why don't you just make yourself at home there." Lorelai whispered sarcastically once Jess was out of listening distance.

"I'm sorry, Lorelai. He's… I don't know, I don't know what to do with him."

"Luke, you'll be fine. Once he starts school, that's like 6 hours a day you don't have to deal with him and then he'll be working for you and then he'll be sleeping. It'll be easy." Lorelai rubbed Luke's arm.

Luke thought for a second. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Rory could probably help him too. At least teach him to not go through strangers closets." Luke gestured to Jess in the other room. He had a few cabinet doors open and was now deeply interested in something in the closet. "Jess," Luke said. "Let's go eat."

Lorelai went to get Rory from her room. "They're here!" She smiled when she walked through the door. "Be careful of Jess though. Very nosy and very stuck up."

"Oh so like Paris?" Rory asked. They both laughed for a second before joining the guys in the dining room.

"Okay, Sookie made Risotto and I honestly have no idea what the rest of this is." Lorelai explained the pots and pans full of foods and soups.

"Sookie? Is that a maid." Jess asked disrespectfully.

The three of them widened their eyes in shock. "No!" Lorelai started. "Sookie is my best friend. She's a chef at the Inn."

Jess let out a little grunt.

Once the three of them got their food, they sat down at the table.

"So, Jess. How are you liking Stars Hollow?" Rory asked.

"Eh." Jess shrugged and took a bite of food.

"Well if you're saying 'eh', that means I need to take you on a tour because this show never ends."

Jess let out a slight almost unnoticeable smile.

"So!" Lorelai spoke. "You're starting Junior year here on Monday right?"

Jess nodded at Lorelai.

"Yeah, he's uh, he's not too excited about it." Luke responded.

"Why not?" Rory asked. "School is great."

"Maybe to you, but not to me." Jess said abruptly.

Before the conversation got heated, there was a knock on the door.

"Hold on," Lorelai said. "Coming!" She yelled to the door. Lorelai got up and walked to the foyer to answer the door. Her eyes opened in shock when she saw who was at the door. "Chris! Um, I thought you were moving to your other hotel today…" Lorelai said nervously.

"I am." Chris barged in. "I need to tell you something first." He was talking loud enough so Rory, Jess, and Luke could hear him.

"Uh…" Lorelai started to speak but Chris interrupted her again.

"Lorelai, I love you. I've been looking for the love of my life, the one, and I can't find it. Someone helped me realize this I can't find it because it's been there the whole time. You're the one Lorelai, it's you. I love you and I love Rory. We're already a family and I think we should far married."

Lorelai stood there in shock and the whole house was silent for a second. Everyone in the kitchen exchanged confused looks.

All of the sudden, Lorelai blurted out. "Get out!"

"Wha-"

"Chris, get out right now."

"No! I'm not leaving until we talk about this!"

"Let's talk about it outside, there's people here!" Lorelai yelled as she pushed him out the door. They stood there on the porch and she continued to yell. "You have no idea what it means to be a family! You're immature, you're irrational, and you're selfish. You come back into our lives whenever you feel like it and you leave when you get bored. Christopher, I love you. I will always love you, but I can never be with you." Everyone inside remained silent and they could still hear them yelling. Luke was starting to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"Lorelai! I'm better now! I have a business, I have money, I have a life. I'm ready for this!" Chris yelled back.

"No you're not!" Lorelai lowered her voice. "Christopher, I know you. You think you're ready but you're not. I know you love me and Rory and we both love you too, but that's not enough. Christopher, we still want you around, but you and I can't just get married."

"Oh… I see." Chris said with an accusing voice. "There's another man. You brought me out here because you had company."

"Chris, no."

Christopher barged back into the house and walked to the living room. When no one was there, he went into the kitchen and found Jess, Rory, and Luke. Lorelai followed him into the house and tears started to rim her eyes.

"Chris, stop!"

"Of course it's you," Chris said, ignoring Lorelai and staring right at Luke. "I knew it!"

Luke got up from the table to confront Chris. "Hold on a minute," he said, putting his hand out. Luke wanted to talk him down but out of nowhere, Christopher threw a hard punch right at his face.

"Dad!" Rory yelled in horror, tears starting to rim her eyes too. Jess just sat back and laughed.

Luke and Christopher were now holding each other by the collars of their shirts, punching eachother.

"Christoper!" Lorelai yelled.

"Do something!" Rory looked at Jess.

Jess rolled his eyes and got up from his place at the table. He went over and punched Christopher so hard in the face that he let go of Luke and stumbled back a bit. Jess pushed Luke back away from Christopher and calmed him down. Lorelai grabbed Christopher and pushed him back outside and Rory sat there in shock.

"You need to go," Lorelai said calmly.

"I hope you're happy with him." Chris retorted with sarcasm and anger as he walked off. Once he had gotten in his car and drove away, Lorelai tried to wipe away her tears and went back into the house. She found Rory and Jess sitting down at the table while Luke stood with his hands behind his head. She looked at Rory and gave her a slight nod and then gestured to Luke to follow her. Luke and Lorelai went upstairs to her room because she didn't want to go back outside.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Jess started to talk.

"So, fun dinner?" He said awkwardly.

Rory scoffed at him.

"Come on, I'm kidding." Jess smiled at Rory. "So what exactly is going on?"

"The guy that just left… is my father. He's barely around. My mom had me at 16 and my dad left. We came here and started a new life," Rory said without picking her head up to look at Jess. She knew she'd start to cry if she met eyes with anyone in this moment.

"Sorry," Jess said with true sympathy. "And how does Luke fit in?"

Still not looking up, Rory replied. "Luke and my mom just started dating. Sort of. I don't really know. He's liked her since the first day they met but he never did anything and she never knew. If he tried, something always happened to mess it up. She finally realized she had feelings for him and now they're sort of together."

Jess heard Rory's voice start to waver and he knew she was crying. "Hey, hey, hey. Look at me," he said, leaning closer to Rory. She shook her head and continued to look at the table. Jess got up kneeled next to her. "Look at me," he repeated. Rory looked at him for a quick second and he saw her bright blue eyes sparkle as tears built up. She leaned into him quickly and cried onto his shoulder, hiding her face. Uncomfortable in this position, Jess stood up and Rory stood with him. She wrapped her arms around his muscular back and he awkwardly patted her back.

Rory quickly realized what was happening so she stopped crying and pulled away. She wiped her eyes and stood up straight.

"Sorry, I didn't mean. I mean, sorry I cried."

Jess shrugged in reply.

"Do you want a tour? Or something?" Rory asked, faking a smile.

"Sure." Jess put his hands in his jean pockets.

"Well, this is the kitchen."

"I kind of figured…"

Rory walked out into the foyer.

"This is the foyer, the front door," she gestured to the right. "And a closet," she gestured to the left.

"Saw that too." Jess said.

Rory continued to the living room.

"This is the living room. We pretty much spend all our time in here." Rory shrugged. "Oh, my room is back here too." She walked to the door that leads into her room.

Jess looked at her for permission and she shrugged so he opened the door and walked in. He took a long look at all her books and scanned through all her framed pictures.

"Who's this?" He asked, pointing to one of them.

Rory walked in and looked at the picture. "Oh, that's me and Dean. He's my boyfriend."

Jess nodded slightly and then turned to keep looking around the room. He leaned up against her desk and turned to look at her. They stood there silently for a few seconds until Rory spoke up.

"They're probably going to be up there for a while. We could eat, or watch tv or something."

"Whatever's fine."

Rory left her room to turn on the tv in the living room. Jess slowly followed her and shut the door to her room behind him.

"Ooh! I love this show!" She said as she plopped down on one end of the couch. Jess followed and sat on the opposite end of the couch. The two of them sat and watched tv as they waited for Luke and Lorelai to come back down.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lorelai and Luke went up to her room to talk. She shut the door incase Rory and Jess could hear them. Lorelai crossed her arms and kept a safe distance from Luke.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"Lorelai…"

"I'm sorry. I had no idea he was coming."

"Lorelai," Luke said with a little bit more force.

"I didn't know he would do tha-"

"Lorelai!" Luke practically yelled her name to get her to stop. She stopped and looked up at Luke. "Stop apologizing." He walked closer to her. "Every time I have tried to tell you that I have feelings for you, something happened. Either something happened and I never got the chance to tell you, or something made me think I was crazy for thinking that you could possibly have feelings for me too. I have been falling for you for forever and I'm not going to let this ruin my chance." Lorelai remained silent. "Lorelai, I don't know Christopher. I don't know your history. I don't care about your past with him or anyone else. All I know is that I want to be your future."

Lorelai rushed into his open arms. He wrapped his arms tightly around her back when she threw hers over his shoulders. She kissed him lightly on the lips and then fully embraced the hug. They stood there for what felt like hours and then finally pulled away.

Lorelai smiled at Luke. "We better get back down there."

Luke laughed when he thought about all the things that could have happened with Jess and Rory down stairs. He half expected Jess not to be there.

Luke opened the bedroom door and gestured to Lorelai. She left the room and he followed her downstairs. They were both shocked when they found Jess and Rory watching tv.

"Hey guys," Lorelai said.

"Hey!" Rory turned away from the tv but Jess kept watching.

"Should we, uh, finish our dinner here or would you guys be more comfortable just going to Luke's?" Lorelai asked.

"Luke's." They both replied.

Lorelai turned to Luke and smiled. "Do you want to take them? I'm going to go change."

"Why are you changing?" Luke asked.

"I don't know, I feel weird."

"Okay…" Luke kissed her on the forehead and watched her walk back up the stairs.

Lorelai changed clothes and then watched out her bedroom window. Once Luke's truck had gone, Lorelai went back downstairs and picked up the phone.

" _Hello?"_ answered the voice on other line.

"Mom," Lorelai said. "I know you talked to Christopher."

Emily started to speak but Lorelai interrupted her again.

"Never interfere in my romantic life again. The only reason we talk is Rory. Rory deserves to have loving grandparents but that changes nothing between us. I am a grown woman and I have been making my own choices since I left you guys when I was seventeen. You have no right to tell Christopher that I am the one for him because I am not, Mom. Christopher has his own life and I have mine and I would like to keep them separate, okay?"

Emily was silent for a few seconds before speaking. _"Who's Luke?"_

Lorelai hung up the phone right away. The only way Emily could know about Luke is Christopher. He must have called her right before Lorelai. She didn't even want to think of the things he could have told Emily. Emily has always taken Christopher's side over Lorelai's in any situation.

Lorelai took a moment to collect herself and then she hopped in the Jeep and drove to Luke's.

* * *

 **Well, there it is! Obviously there will be some Emily confrontation in the next chapter. There might also be a little bit of Dean and Rory interaction. I know I made it seem like Lorelai is sort of pushing Luke away at the end but I promise she's not! She just needed get her feelings towards her Mom off her mind before she could really enjoy herself with Luke and Rory and Jess so I think it's good that she took that time to call her. Anyways, let me know what you think. The next chapter should be out soon.**

 **Oh by the way, Friday night dinners obviously don't happen in this story and I was wondering if you guys would want to see that? I always liked the Friday night dinners and I think they'd be cool to add to this story, but I'm just not sure how I would go about adding them in. Anyways, please let me know!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Sorry it took a while for me to get this chapter out. I totally got this idea randomly and decided to use it. I hope you like it! There's a lot of Luke and Lorelai in this chapter and there will be even more in the next. Please review and let me know what you think! I really really appreciate it.**

* * *

"Hey!" Lorelai exclaimed as she sat at the counter of Luke's.

"I think they know." Luke replied with a deep voice.

"Who knows what?"

"The town, us. They're staring."

Lorelai looked around and saw that Ms. Patty was eyeing them carefully, Taylor was trying to be discreet, and Kirk was just staring.

"Okay, so they know. Let them watch." Lorelai said with a smirk.

Luke took a quick look around the diner and then kissed Lorelai. They both laughed as everyone in the diner let out a collective gasp and Taylor almost fell out of his chair.

"Come here," Luke said to Lorelai, gesturing up to his apartment. Lorelai watched as Luke disappeared behind the curtains and then she looked back at the people in the diner. She gave them a shrug and a smirk and then followed Luke up the stairs.

"Jess? Get down there."

"I don't work mornings," Jess replied.

"Well it's Saturday and I'm your boss so you work whenever I want."

Jess looked at the door and saw Lorelai standing there behind Luke.

"Fine. But you're paying me extra."

Jess went down to the diner and left Lorelai and Luke alone in the apartment.

"We need to get away," Luke said.

"What?"

"We need to get away; away from the town and the people and the kids."

"Why?" Lorelai asked.

"Because I want to spend time with you. I want to spend time with just you. So far, every time we've been together, someone has interrupted us." He paused and looked at Lorelai for a minute. "Let's go to Maine. My sister had a place up there with some guy and she got to keep it when they got divorced. She doesn't live there now so it's completely empty. Let's go up next weekend."

"Really?" Lorelai asked. "Is that okay?"

"I'll call her."

Lorelai smiled at Luke before giving him a big hug. "You're amazing."

"Aw geez."

Lorelai hugged him tighter and he smelt her shampoo. He quickly realized that smelling her hair did something to him. He pulled away, not wanting her to feel what had just happened to him. He wasn't sure if it was too early in the relationship for her. It definitely wasn't too early for him. He had been imagining what it would be like for years, and now he finally had the chance. He didn't want to screw it up.

"I better go back down there and help Jess," he said nervously. "Are you going to hang around?"

"No, I'm going to go get some extra hours in at the Inn."

"Okay, I'll see you later." He leaned in for a soft kiss and then followed her out the door. When they walked out from behind the curtain, everyone quickly shifted in their seats to pretend as if they weren't waiting for them to come down. Luke rolled his eyes and nodded goodbye to Lorelai. She gave him a slight wave and then walked out the door.

* * *

Lorelai counted down the days until Friday. Her and Luke decided they'd leave on Friday night and come back Sunday night. She took a couple extra shifts at the Inn to makeup for the shifts she'd miss when she was gone. Luke told her that the house was near a beach and there was a huge shopping mall near by.

Lorelai wanted to meet Liz and tell her thank you for everything, so Luke said they'd stop by on Friday night before they went out to the Maine house.

It was now Thursday night and Lorelai started to pack. "Rory!" She called out.

Rory came rushing up the stairs. "What now?"

"What bathing suit should I take?" Lorelai asked holding up a handful of bikinis. "There's this one." She laid out a strappy black bikini top with matching bottoms.

"Oooh I like it." Rory replied.

"This one." Lorelai laid out a light shimmery blue strapless top with white bikini bottoms.

"That's a possibility."

"This one." Lorelai laid out a halter top bikini with sunflower bottoms.

"Bad tan lines."

"Or this one." Lorelai laid out a fiery red bikini top that showed just the right amount of cleavage and the bottoms had intricate detailing on the sides.

"That one." Rory suggested. "Take both that one and the black one."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks babe."

"Why is your stuff so much sluttier than mine?"

"Is not!" Lorelai defended.

Rory held up a sparkly gold mini skirt from the floor of her mom's room.

"In my defense, that was on sale and I've never worn it."

Rory laughed at her mom and she continued to pack.

Lorelai wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like so she brought some sweaters along with a few thank tops. She brought jeans and skirts and shorts. She brought everything to make sure she'd be fine in whatever weather for whatever activity. She even brought tennis shoes.

She packed her bathroom stuff the next morning after she got ready for work. Rory helped her put her suitcase in the jeep and she drove off to work.

Rory was going to meet Dean at Luke's before she had to leave for school. Rory took a seat at a table because she arrived before Dean.

"Coffee?" Jess asked.

"Two please."

"Jeez, someone must be tired."

"No, Dean is meeting me here."

Jess squirmed a little. "Oh, he's your boyfriend, right?"

"Yep." Rory looked over to the door. "Ah, right on cue." Dean walked into the diner and gave Rory a kiss on the forehead before sitting next to her. "Dean, this is Jess, Luke's nephew."

"Yeah, I know," Dean said angrily. "We've met."

"Really?" Rory asked excitedly, not realizing Dean's tone of voice. "When?"

"At school." Jess replied. "I'm going to go get those coffee's."

As soon as he walked away, Dean started talking to Rory. "That jerk thinks he's better than everyone."

"Yeah, he kind of has a different personality, but once you get to know him, he can be really nice."

"Get to know him?" Dean asked. "When did you get to know him?"

"Oh, Luke brought him over for dinner last week."

Dean looked up when Jess brought them two coffees. He didn't speak until Jess had walked away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dean asked forcefully.

Rory sat back in defense. "I didn't think it was a big deal!"

Dean took a second to calm down.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Rory asked.

"Yeah."

"Good." Rory stood up from her spot at the table. "I have to catch my bus." She kissed him on the lips and then left the diner. Jess watched them from afar. He pretended he was wiping down the table when Dean came up to pay.

"Here's your money." Dean threw a couple dollar bills on the counter in front of Jess and left the diner.

* * *

"Ooooh! Are you excited? I'm excited!" Sookie exclaimed when Lorelai walked into the kitchen. "You and Luke are just so adorable!"

Lorelai didn't know what to say and she couldn't help but smile. She squealed with Sookie for a couple minutes until Michel walked in and ruined the fun.

"Lorelai, there is a man waiting to check in at the desk."

"Why can't you check him in?" Lorelai asked.

"He was annoying me." Michel responded with his usual charm.

Lorelai went back out to the lobby to finish her workday. She wasn't 100% focused on what she was doing because she kept thinking about what was to come. Her and Luke. _Her_ and Luke. Her and _Luke_. She kept trying going over it in her head again and again. She had never _really_ imagined them together as a couple. Sure there were times where it seemed like something was going to happen but she never _really_ imagined a relationship with him. Now that it's happening, she couldn't imagine it any other way.

Before she realized it, her work day came to an end. She decided to stop in and say goodbye to Sookie before she left.

"Hey, Sook! I'm off."

"Ahh! Come here." Sookie gestured Lorelai over for a hug.

Granting Sookie's wishes, Lorelai danced into the kitchen for a hug. When she pulled away, Sookie grabbed hold of her hand.

"Two things. One – have fun. Two – tell me what his butt is like."

"Sookie!"

"What? I've always thought it looks like a nice butt but he's always wearing those baggy jeans and a flannel so it's hard to tell."

Lorelai smirked. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Oh! Shape, size, and firmness for sure!"

"You're crazy." Lorelai laughed.

"I'm going to miss you!"

"It's two days."

"Two days too long." Sookie hugged Lorelai again. "Now go have fun with your man."

Lorelai waved goodbye as she left the Inn. She got in her car and drove to the diner, as ready as she'd ever be.

Luke had been working all day since Jess was at school. He looked out the windows of the diner every couple of minutes hoping to see Lorelai's Jeep. He was so nervous and excited he spilled at least four cups of coffee.

His heart jumped when she finally showed up. He stayed behind the counter and continued to serve people to keep his cool as she walked in.

"Hey," she said flirtatiously as she sat down at the counter.

"Coffee?" He asked.

"Always."

Luke smirked at her as he poured a cup.

"Keys?" He asked. He was going to get her suitcase and put it in his truck along with his stuff.

"Right here." Lorelai dangled the keys in front of him.

Luke grabbed the keys and called out to Caesar. "I'm off!"

"Okay boss!" Caesar called back from the kitchen. "See you on Monday!"

Luke went and grabbed Lorelai's suitcase from her Jeep and he put it in the back of his truck. He left the keys to her Jeep with Caesar when he came back inside because Rory was going to drive it back home after school.

"I've got a few things upstairs to grab and then we'll be on our way." Luke smiled at Lorelai and then rushed upstairs. He made sure to grab everything that seemed necessary for any occasion. With Lorelai, who knows what could happen.

Luke took one last look around the apartment before he locked it and went back downstairs to Lorelai.

"I totally forgot to ask!" Lorelai started. "What about Jess? What's he going to do?"

"Jess… he has to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Caesar is going to let me know if Jess shows up and as much as I hate it, I'm having Taylor tell me if Jess goes anywhere or does anything bad. Hopefully he'll be fine. It's the weekend so at least I don't have to deal with him and school while we're gone."

"Okay." Lorelai looked up at Luke and smiled. She was getting excited. Luke smiled back to her and then carried the few small bags in his hands to the truck. When he came back inside, Lorelai jumped off her seat. "You ready?" She asked.

Luke held a hand out to her in response. She giggled and grabbed his hand. He led her out to the truck where he opened her door like a gentleman. Once they were both settled in the truck, Lorelai giggled. "I'm excited to meet your sister!"

Luke sighed. "Don't get your hopes up."

Lorelai laughed again. "I told Rory I'd leave a message on the home phone when we left for her."

Luke nodded as if he were giving Lorelai permission to call.

Lorelai listened until she heard her voice on their home voicemail message. _"Hey, it's Lorelai and Rory. We're either not home or too lazy to get the phone. Leave a message if it's important!"_

Once she heard the beep, Lorelai left her message. "Hey hun, it's me. Luke and I just left. Call me back when you get this. I love you." Lorelai hung up.

Her and Luke exchanged glances the whole way to Liz's house. They also argued over the radio and the air conditioning. Luke wanted the air up and the radio down, however, Lorelai wanted heat and loud music. Obviously, Luke caved and Lorelai won power over both.

* * *

"Here it is," Luke said as they pulled up to a small house in a crowded neighborhood.

"Oh my," Lorelai said, straining her neck to look out the window at different angles. "I can see why Jess isn't as freaked out about Stars Hollow as I was expecting him to be. This is… close." Lorelai looked at the few feet of space in between each house.

"Yep." Luke got out of the car quickly and went to open Lorelai's door.

"Aww what a fine gentleman I have here." Lorelai teased. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Do you need anything?" He asked, looking back at the truck.

"I need lots of things." She smiled at him.

Luke rolled his eyes again and locked the doors. He grabbed Lorelai's hand and led her up to the doorstep. He quickly knocked on the door knowing Liz would be right behind it.

The door opened with a whoosh and Liz walked out.

"Oh hi! You must be Lorelai! I've heard so much about you!" Lorelai stumbled back a bit when Liz hugged her.

"Liz…" Luke nudged.

"Okay okay," she started. "Fine, we can go inside."

Luke and Lorelai followed behind Liz as she walked towards her living room.

"Oh Lorelai, I've been waiting for so long to finally meet you. Luke talked about you all the time."

"Ah really?" Lorelai smirked at a reddening Luke.

"Oh yes. For years and years, I've heard about the beautiful girl with the coffee obsession-"

"Okay Liz that's enough." Luke spoke loudly and quickly in agitation.

"Liz, your house is beautiful." Lorelai admired.

"Thank you so much! That actually brings me to my next topic…" Liz turned to look at Luke who was looking around the house.

"It's different." Luke noticed.

"Yes, Luke. Meet TJ. He's my boyfriend and he's been fixing up the house. Sort of." Liz's new boyfriend came up the stairs from the basement.

Lorelai laughed at Luke's reaction.

"What?" Luke's eyes widened.

"TJ, this is Luke."

TJ turned to Luke. "Ahh! Lucas! I feel like I know you so well and I already love you like a brother." TJ pulled Luke into a big hug.

"Don't call me Lucas, and get off me!"

Both Lorelai and Liz laughed together at how TJ looked so safe and affectionate while Luke looked uncomfortable and awkward.

"We have stuff for tacos." Liz pointed out.

TJ quickly released Luke and headed for the kitchen. They all made their plates and sat down at the circular table. Lorelai sat in between Luke and Liz.

"So Lorelai, what do you do?" Liz asked.

"Oh, I run an Inn."

"Really? That's impressive!" Liz gushed.

"Thanks! It's a lot of work. Not nearly as hard as what Luke does."

"Aw geez." Luke blushed.

"So, what do you guys do? If you mind me asking." Lorelai looked back at Liz.

"I make jewelry and TJ and I sell it at the renaissance fair."

"That's really cool!"

"Would you like to see?" Liz asked.

"Oh-"

Luke cut Lorelai off. "Liz, we're eating."

"Oh no! It's totally fine!" Liz answered. "Lorelai, come downstairs and look at the jewelry. We can finish eating after."

"Oh okay." Lorelai stood up and followed Liz to the basement.

Luke sighed and looked at TJ who hadn't been talking because he was stuffing his face with tacos.

Downstairs, Liz showed Lorelai into her little craft room where she had multiple jewelry stands overflowing with necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

"Woah," Lorelai said as she lightly placed a charm on a necklace in her hand. "These are really impressive."

"They are?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, they're beautiful." A long silver necklace with a light blue charm caught Lorelai's eye.

"Take it."

"What?" Lorelai's eyes snapped away from the necklace. "Oh no. I couldn't."

"Please take it." Liz demanded. "Family gets free jewelry and Luke is family."

"Liz, I'm not family. It wouldn't feel right."

"Luke never brings girls around to meet me. He's really happy about you. Please let me give you something."

"You're already letting me and Luke stay at your place up in Maine. That's all I could ask for."

"Okay…" Liz looked at the door.

Lorelai understood the gesture and walked out the door back upstairs to Luke and TJ.

Liz put the necklace in a little box and brought it upstairs.

When Lorelai got back to the table, TJ was rambling about something with his mouth full and Lorelai could tell Luke was annoyed. He smiled at her when she sat down and Liz followed. When they were all back at the table, they finished eating. They talked about life and Jess. Lorelai's favorite part of the dinner was talking about Luke as a kid. Liz made sure to slip the box with the necklace in it to Luke as they were leaving.

"Have fun!" Liz called out as Lorelai and Luke got back in their truck to head up to Maine.

"Thank you!" Lorelai called back.

Luke started the truck and turned to Lorelai.

"You ready?" He asked.

"So ready," she said with a smile.

She gave him a big kiss and then he pulled out of the driveway.

"Here we go."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rory had gotten home from school. She walked to Luke's and found Jess working.

"Hey," he greeted as she walked in.

"Hi."

"Coffee?"

"No, I'm actually just here to pick up my mom's keys."

"Oh yeah," Jess replied. "I'll get them from Caesar for you." Jess disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes and came back out with the keys. He held them out in front of her, and classically pulled them away just as she was about to grab them. Rory rolled her eyes at him. Jess handed over the keys with a little chuckle.

"Bye Rory!" He waved mockingly as she walked out the diner.

Rory drove home. She changed into comfy clothes when she got home and decided to check the messages on the voicemail before she studied. There was only the one from her Lorelai telling Rory to call her back.

" _Hello?"_ Lorelai answered.

"Hey Mom, got your message."

" _Oh, you did? Good! What's up?"_

"Nothing with me." Rory answered. "What about you? How was the dinner?"

" _It was really good. Kind of awkward. But it was good. I had a lot of fun."_

"Are you and Luke driving?"

" _Yeah we just left."_ Lorelai paused. _"Okay, I would keep talking to you, but apparently, Luke's no cellphones in the diner rule applies to his truck too. He's giving me a really mean stare right now. Kind of cute."_

Rory heard Luke say his signature 'aww geez'.

"Okay, call me tomorrow." Rory suggested.

" _I will! Love you, kid."_

"Love you too Mom."

Right as Rory hung up the phone, she got another call.

"Hello?" Rory answered.

" _Rory!"_ Emily called. _"Where is your mother? I have been trying to reach her all week."_

"Oh, hi grandma… my mom… well she isn't here right now."

" _If she isn't there, where is she?"_ Emily asked.

"She's working?" Rory tried to lie but her tone made it sound like a question.

" _Rory I know she isn't working, I called her work and a French man told me she doesn't come back to work until Monday. Where is your mother?"_

"She's in Maine." Rory couldn't lie to her grandma. It was scary and impossible.

" _Why is she in Maine? A woman should not be traveling that far all alone."_

Rory replied without thinking. "Oh, she's not alone." Rory immediately regretted her words and cringed.

" _Not alone? Who is she with?"_

Rory decided to stop trying to lie. "She went to Maine with Luke."

" _Ahh. Luke. I've been hearing a lot about this Luke recently."_

"Grandma, Luke is so great and-" Rory tried to defend her mother but Emily cut her off.

" _There is nothing good about this man. He's ruining relationships between our family and the Hayden's. He owns a filthy diner. He takes Lorelai away from work! And you! How could such a man force a woman to leave her kid and her family to go on vacation."_

"Grandma stop!" Rory yelled into the phone. "If you have a problem with this, talk to Mom! I like Luke and I don't want to hear all this negativity. I'm sorry for snapping at you, but please leave me out of this." Rory hung up the phone.

* * *

 **So, that's it! Next chapter should be out soon. I don't really feel like this is my best writing, that's why it took so long. I just can't seem to get this chapter right. Please tell me what you think because I'm not a fan of this chapter. Anyways, let me know! The next one should be really eventful! Especially considering that Emily knows Lorelai is with Luke. She'll obviously interfere but it won't be until they get back which means Lorelai and Luke have a full 2 days plus the extra time on Friday night in Maine all to themselves. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, here's chapter 6! I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think. Reviews really motivate me to keep writing and I love getting suggestions! I read every one and they really inspire me. Anyway, the next chapter should be out really soon!**

* * *

Lorelai turned her ringer off and ignored every call from her mother as they drove to Maine. She fell asleep in the car and Luke continued to drive.

When they finally got there, Luke got out of the truck walked over to her side. He opened the door and rubbed her head.

"We're here."

Lorelai flickered her eyes open and let out a groan before closing them again.

Luke knew what that meant so he decided to unload the truck. He wasn't sure what Lorelai was comfortable with so he put their bags in separate rooms. When he was done unloading the truck, he went back to Lorelai. When she refused to get up, he grabbed her and carried her inside. Luke set her down on the bed in her room and removed her shoes. He tucked her in under the covers and she moved around until she was comfortable. His lips touched her forehead softly before he left to go to his room.

* * *

The next morning, Lorelai woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon. She looked around the room and saw her stuff sitting in the corner. There was a mirror hanging on the wall and Lorelai noticed saw how bad she looked. Her makeup was smudged and her hair was a mess. She opened her suitcase and grabbed what she needed to make herself look presentable. She fixed her hair and took off her makeup. After she changed into a comfy pair of jeans and a soft tank top, Lorelai applied a little mascara and went out to find Luke.

The living room was just outside the door to her room, and the kitchen was just next to that. Luke was faced the other way, flipping pancakes in the kitchen in his usual flannel and backwards baseball cap. He hadn't noticed her decent from the room so she decided to sneak up on him. She tiptoed into the kitchen and stood behind him. He jumped when she wrapped both her arms around him.

"Geez!" He yelled.

Lorelai laughed. "Ha ha, you got scared," she said in a mocking child voice.

"Ha ha very funny." Luke replied in a monotone voice as he turned around to face her. "Come here." He pulled her closer and gave her a kiss.

"Good morning." She greeted.

"Morning." Luke gave her another kiss and then pulled away to flip another pancake.

Lorelai took a seat on one of the stools at the counter and took in the beauty of the house and Luke. Luke _in_ the house. It seemed right.

Lorelai's thoughts were interrupted when he handed her a plate of food. Three pancakes were piled high next to a stack of bacon. Luke had already buttered the pancakes and he put a bottle of syrup next to the plate.

"Where did all this food come from?" Lorelai asked, picking up a fork.

"I went to the store." Luke responded as he sat down next to her with a bowl of oatmeal.

"When?" Lorelai looked at the clock on the microwave. "It's 9:00 in the morning!"

"I get up early." Luke replied with a shrug. "I left you a note but you were still asleep when I got back."

"Yeah, because I don't wake up at _hell-no_ in he morning."

Luke laughed as she took a bite of her pancakes.

"So what do you want to do today?" He asked. "We could walk around the beach or go shopping. I don't know, whatever you want to do."

Lorelai chuckled because Luke struggled to get out the word shopping. "Walking around the beach sounds great." She smiled at him before taking another bite of her pancakes.

After they finished eating, Lorelai decided to call Rory.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, hun. What's up?" Lorelai asked.

" _Not much. How are things?"_ Rory asked excitedly.

"Things are good." Lorelai smiled.

" _So, what happened?"_

"Nothing happened. I fell asleep."

" _Mom…"_ Rory started.

"I promise! Nothing happened."

" _Okay…"_ Rory said skeptically. _"Oh, grandma called."_

"Eugh." Lorelai grimaced. "What'd she say?"

" _She wanted to know where you were… she could tell I was lying and I kind of ended up telling her you were on vacation with Luke."_

"Rory, no! Why would you tell her that?"

" _I had to!"_

Lorelai calmed down. "I know, I know. There's nothing she can do about it so I'll just deal with it when I get back."

" _Okay."_

"Okay," Lorelai replied. "Bye."

" _Call me tomorrow."_

"I will."

They both hung up the phones.

Lorelai opened her suitcase back up. The weather was fairly warm so Lorelai grabbed out flowy sun dress that would go over her bathing suit. Now she just had to decide which one to wear. She tried to make a pro/con list for each of the swimsuits like Rory would do in this situation but it wasn't working so she decided just to go ask Luke which one.

She found his room and knocked on the door. "Luke?"

"Come in." He called back.

She opened the door and walked in. He was unpacking his suitcase and putting all he clothes on hangers into the closet.

"You know we're only here for one more day right?" Lorelai asked.

"I know. I just don't like digging through suitcases to find things."

Lorelai laughed. "Which one?" She held up both of the bathing suits. Luke had already changed into a plain pair of dark grey swim shorts and a plain black shirt. He had a flannel on but it was unbuttoned.

Luke looked up at the choices and shook his head. "I don't know."

"Luke! Pick one!" Lorelai said in a demanding voice.

"Fine, that one." Luke blindly pointed at the red one.

"But don't you think it clashes with my dress?" Lorelai asked.

"Then wear the other one." Luke replied.

"Okay." Lorelai skipped away back to her room to change.

When she came back, Luke had finished unpacking. She spun around in her dress. "You like?"

"Very." He said. He went up to her and placed a kiss on her lips.

When he stepped back, Lorelai really looked at him. She noticed he was wearing shorts earlier but it actually hit her this time. She had never seen him in shorts. It had always been dress pants or jeans.

"Woah."

"What?" He asked, looking down.

"I've just never seen your legs before." Lorelai still stared. "Very muscular."

"Geez." Luke shifted uncomfortably.

Lorelai looked back up at his face. "Sorry…" She chuckled. "You ready?"

"Yeah, lets go." Luke grabbed her hand and they walked out the door. The beach was only a few minutes away so they decided to walk.

"How's Rory?" Luke asked.

"She's good, she's great."

"You did an amazing job, you know that?" Luke asked.

Lorelai chuckled. "Thanks."

"I mean it. You raised her all alone. You left home and found a new home and a job and you made sure nothing happened to her. You're an amazing mom, Lorelai."

Lorelai became serious. "Thank you." She looked up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Luke smiled at her as they finally made it to the beach. They both brought towels and rolled them out next to each other. Lorelai took her dress off and laid down on her stomach to tan. Luke's eyes widened at the sight of her body. He had seen her in tight shirts and short skirts before so it seemed like he knew her body, but he didn't. She was gorgeous. Her black bikini flattered every part of her sculpted body.

Luke swallowed before speaking. "Did you put sunscreen on?"

Lorelai looked up at him. "No, why?"

"You could get cancer." Luke handed her a bottle of sunscreen. He took off his flannel and his shirt and lied down next to her. "I put some on back at the house."

Lorelai sat up and applied the sunscreen to her legs. Luke couldn't help but watch. When she got to her back, she asked him for help by holding out the bottle for him. He got the gesture, sat up and grabbed the sunscreen. She turned her back towards him and pulled her hair out of the way. Luke squeezed a little sunscreen onto his hands and rubbed them together. He then started to apply the sunscreen to her back. His hands slowly circled the lower part of her back, under her bathing suit and he made sure to cover every part, mostly so he could keep his hands on her as long as possible. Luke tried to stay calm but nothing was working. He felt like he was melting inside but he was growing more tense every second. As soon as he finished with the sunscreen, he laid back down on his stomach on the towel and faced away from her.

"Thank you," she said questioningly. She was confused about why he pulled away so quickly.

They both laid there for a while and watched the families run around and play in the water and build sand castles. Lorelai decided to take a chance and ask him a personal question.

"Do you ever want kids someday?"

"What?" He asked.

"I mean, eventually. I know you don't like kids, but what if you had your own kids?" Lorelai turned to face him. She was now laying on her side.

Luke turned to look at her and his heart started racing as soon as he saw her body. "I don't know."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't know. I guess maybe if it's the right time and I found the right person…" Luke started. "Would you want more kids, besides Rory?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, you know? I think so." Lorelai smiled at Luke.

They continued to watch everyone play around on the beach.

"Come on." Luke said suddenly, standing up and holding a hand out to Lorelai.

She grabbed it and stood up with him.

"What?"

"Let's go." Luke gestured to the water.

Lorelai quirked her eyebrow but before she could respond, Luke had already started pulling her towards the water. They ran in and Lorelai shivered when she felt the cold water on her feet but she kept going. They kept going until their feet weren't touching the sand any more. Splashing each other like little kids, Luke and Lorelai messed around for what felt like hours. He would pick up her whole body and dunk it under the water as if he was drowning her and she'd jump on his back until he fell. It was crazy that they were having this much fun. Eventually, they slowed down. They were back to where they could touch the sand but their bodies will still half submerged in the water. Luke picked up Lorelai and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her arms gathered around his neck and she leaned in for a passionate kiss. The kiss made her weak to the knees but luckily she wasn't standing. Luke spun Lorelai around in circles mostly just to make sure he could still move. It was like a scene from a movie, it seemed to be going in slow motion. When she finally pulled away, he let her go and they walked hand in hand back to their towels.

"That was so fun," Lorelai exclaimed.

"Yeah." Luke gave Lorelai another quick kiss but they were interrupted.

"Hi…" A beautiful woman walked up to them. She had golden blonde hair that shined red in the sunlight. She had perfect eyes with every color of green in them.

"Hi?" Lorelai said.

"I'm sorry if this is weird or anything, but I'm a photographer and I know I have to get consent to take pictures of random people or to put them in my portfolio but I was walking along the beach taking pictures and you guys were just there and it was the perfect picture." Lorelai and Luke stood there in confusion. The woman got her camera out. "If you want me to, I can delete them now. I really hope you let me use them though, they're great pictures. I'm doing a vacation piece and these would fit in perfectly."

"Um, no. That's fine, I guess." Lorelai replied, still confused.

"Do you want to see them?" The girl asked. She had a digital camera that showed the pictures on the screen. She held it out to Lorelai and flipped through the pictures. "This one's my favorite."

Lorelai looked at the picture of her in Luke's arms and she couldn't help but smile. Luke was still standing next to her but he was confused and zoning out.

"These are really good." Lorelai stated with a smile on her face.

"Thank you. So, do you think you'd let me use them in my vacation portfolio?" The woman asked.

"I don't really know what that is but yeah you can use them." Lorelai looked up at Luke. "Are you okay with that?"

Luke snapped out of his thoughts. "What?"

"If she uses our pictures in her portfolio." Lorelai said, tightening her grasp on his hand. The woman held the camera up to Luke so he could see the pictures.

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine with that." He replied.

"Oh, good. Thank you. It really does mean a lot." The woman smiled.

"No problem." Lorelai smiled back.

"Do you want any?" She asked.

"Any what?"

"Any of the pictures. Do you want print outs? I won't charge you since I sort of took them without permission."

"Actually, yeah. That would be really great." Lorelai smiled again.

"Okay, here's my card," the woman said, handing Lorelai a small grey business card. "My name is Caroline Thompson."

"Oh my god." Lorelai said with wide open eyes at the sound of her name.

"Caroline? I'm Lorelai, Lorelai Gilmore."

"Omg Lorelai! I haven't seen you in like 25 years!"

The two of them jumped around and hugged. Luke took notice to all the squealing and gave Lorelai a little nudge.

"Oh, Luke, I went to school with Caroline back in Hartford. She moved to California or something and I never saw her again." Lorelai was smiling and she was extremely happy. Luke loved to see her when she was like this. It always made something inside him turn on and suddenly he wasn't a 'grump' anymore, he was just happy.

Luke turned away from Lorelai to introduce himself to Caroline, but then he realized who she was. She looked different but her eyes were the same.

"Caroline?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, Caroline." She said with a slight chuckle.

"Luke… Rachel's." Those were the only two words he could get out.

"Oh my god! Luke!" Caroline hugged him. "I didn't recognize you."

Now Lorelai was confused and Caroline explained it. "Rachel and I were travel buddies. We'd go on road trips and take pictures. I met Luke a few times while they were dating." She wasn't sure how much Luke would want Lorelai to know so she stopped there.

"Oh." Was all Lorelai could get out.

"But now you're here! Both of you! Together! What are the odds of that?" She asked with a smile. When neither of them replied, she went back to business talk. "So, I'm actually back in Hartford now. When I get the pictures printed, I can bring them to Luke's? You're still in Stars Hollow, right?" Caroline asked, not wanting to over step her boundaries.

"That's perfect." Lorelai said.

"Okay, great!" Caroline smiled and gave Lorelai a big hug. "I'll see you guys later." When she broke the hug with Lorelai, she went to give Luke a hug too. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, not knowing where to put his hands. He never really was much of a hug person. That is, until Lorelai. With Lorelai, it just fit. The shape of their bodies complimented each other's in a way that just worked. He didn't have to think about where he'd put his hands, they just fell to the perfect spot with out him even trying.

She pulled away from the hug and turned back to Lorelai. "Keep in touch." She gestured to the card in Lorelai's hand before she walked off.

Once she was gone, Lorelai turned to face Luke. "Huh."

"Huh." He replied.

"Are you ready to go back?" She asked.

"Yeah." Luke started to roll up his towel.

Lorelai could tell Caroline hadn't told her the whole truth about her and Luke's past. She didn't want to push it though, if Luke wanted to tell her, he'd tell her when he was ready.

Lorelai shook off her towel and then dried her body. She was pretty much dry just from standing there for those few minutes but her suit was still wet. When she was done drying off, she put her dress back on.

When they got back to the house, Lorelai started to go off to her room to change. Like grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Slowly, without breaking the kiss, Lorelai wrapped her arms around him too. Everything around them faded away as the kids grew deeper each second. Lorelai let out a moan when his tongue entered her mouth. He knew what he was doing, and he was so good at it. Lorelai leaned back and Luke moved his lips down to her neck like he had done before, but this time it was different. Every kiss sent a shock through her body. It was like nothing else existed except for her and him. He moved back up to her mouth and again, without breaking the kiss, they made their way to his room. Lorelai leaned back onto his bed and Luke hovered over her. He pulled up for a second just to take his shirt off, and then he smashed his lips back onto hers. Lorelai rolled over so she was now on top of him. She sat with each knee next to opposite sides of his waist and leaned forward to kiss him. She took a break to pull her dress off, and then she leaned back down onto him.

 _She's beautiful._ Luke thought to himself. _This is finally happening. Finally. After years and years, she finally picked me. I'm not going to screw this up. I love her. I'm in love with her._

 _What is happening?_ Lorelai thought to herself. _What am I doing? This is too soon. We've only just started dating. Hell, we aren't even dating. We're just together. Me and Luke are together. And it feels so good. It's right. This is all right._

Lorelai continued to kiss Luke. She kissed every inch of his skin that she could see. When she was back up to his lips, he grabbed the back of her bathing suit and started to untie it. He went slow so she could back out if she wanted to, but instead, she pulled his hand off of the string and did it herself. Once the strappy black top was off her body, she threw it on the ground and continued to kiss him. He flipped her over so he was on top again and then he covered them with the bed sheets.

* * *

About an hour later, Luke and Lorelai were lying next to each other. One of her legs was tangled up in between his and her head rested on his chest. She listened to his breathing and his heart beat which had normalized now, almost seeming slower than usual. Every piece of clothing they had on at the start was scattered around on the floor now.

"That was amazing." Lorelai whispered.

"Yeah?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. Mind-blowingly amazing." Lorelai felt Luke smile and he placed a kiss to the top of her head.

Lorelai shifted around after a few moments of silence and Luke knew what she wanted.

"Fine." He said.

"Fine what?" Lorelai asked.

"Let's go get food."

Lorelai smiled. She took one of the sheets and wrapped herself in it as she stood up. She looked back at Luke who remained in the same position. She thought to herself. _Nothing else matters. I am with Luke, and Luke is with me._ And with that, she walked back to her room to get changed.

* * *

 **So! It finally happened! I'm sorry if you wanted more description but I'm not really good at writing that stuff so I kind of just skipped it. Anyway, this is not what I planned this chapter to be like at all. I planned on finishing the Maine trip and having Lorelai and Luke come home to find a 'surprise' at Lorelai's house, but I ended up adding Caroline and this chapter started to get long really fast so I have to split it into a couple separate chapters.**

 **This new character, Caroline. I totally made her up and I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with her, but she'll definitely be back. Tell me what you think about all this!**

 **By the way, I brought the Rachel thing up, but I'm almost certain I won't actually bring Rachel back into the story.**

 **Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Even though this is a filler chapter, I actually really like it. Anyways...**

 _ **Please review!**_ **It means so much and I do respond if you have any questions or concerns or something. So yeah, please review and tell me what you think, I greatly appreciate it.**

* * *

Lorelai and Luke got dinner at one of the local restaurants. Lorelai ordered as much food as possible and Luke stuck to a salad.

"How can you eat like that?" He asked. "And how do you still _look_ like that?"

Lorelai laughed. "Metabolism is an amazing thing, my friend."

After a few minutes of eating and talking, Lorelai had to bring it up. "So, you and Caroline?"

"What?" Luke asked.

"Something happened between you and Caroline."

"Caroline was a friend of Rachel's."

"She was more than that and we both know it, Luke."

"Lorelai…"

"Tell me!" Lorelai raised her voice slightly. _Dammit Lorelai, what are you doing?_ She thought to herself. _Don't screw this up now. Can't this just be the one thing I don't screw up in my life._

Luke rolled his eyes when she gave him the puppy dog look. She knew he couldn't say no to her whenever she did that, but up until this point, she had only ever used it to get coffee or house work done. She had never used it to get him to answer a question.

"So, you know Rachel left… all the time. She never stayed here for long because she was bored and she was off traveling and taking pictures."

Lorelai nodded.

"Well, I can't blame every time she left on her. Once or twice she came back with Caroline. They never traveled together but they'd meet up a lot. One time Rachel left and I was done. I couldn't take her leaving anymore, but I loved her. I was in a bad place, and Caroline was there. We had a thing for a while and when Rachel came back, she found out. I never saw Caroline again. Everything with her was just no feelings, no attachments, and... I don't know. I don't regret it, because she helped me realize that if i love something, I have to go after it, I can't sit and wait. So, I got Rachel back and we were happy. She left anyway, but, you get the point. "

Lorelai sighed and nodded again.

"Lorelai, it didn't mean anything. Caroline… she was just… filling a void."

"No, I know." Lorelai whispered. "I just wanted to hear the story." Luke didn't realize it, but she wasn't mad about Caroline, now she was just insecure about Rachel, but she didn't want him to know that, so she dropped it and let him continue.

"Lorelai…" Luke said, sadly. "Please don't let this change anything with us."

"Why would it?" She asked, avoiding eye contact.

"It shouldn't, because it meant nothing." Luke responded.

After a moment of silence, Lorelai spoke. "I just didn't think you were that type of guy."

"What?"

"Girlfriend messes up so you cheat on her."

Luke sighed. "It wasn't like that."

"Well then what was it like, Luke?"

"It was bad." He paused. "But ever since Rachel found out, I promised myself that I was done with that. I would never do something like that ever again. Lorelai, why are we even talking about this?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know why I even asked. I know you, I've known you for years, and I know you'd never do that at least not now. Sorry, things have just been going so… good, and I always find a way to screw up everything good in my life."

"Well I'm not going to let you screw this up." He responded with a smile.

She smiled back at him and then took a big bite of her mashed potatoes.

"Aw geez," he said as she stuffed her mouth.

They continued to talk and laugh as if nothing had happened. No, they weren't just avoiding the subject and pretending it didn't happen, it just meant nothing. It was all in the past and none of it mattered. Sure, it would be weird when they saw Caroline again, or Rachel if she ever came back, but it was nothing they couldn't deal with.

* * *

Rory opened the door when she heard a knock.

"Aww thank you for coming! I'm sorry I changed plans on you." Rory hugged Dean in the foyer.

"It's fine. Eating is eating no matter where we do it."

"Thank you! Everyone always things going out to some fancy restaurant and paying for an expensive meal is the only way to do a first date but honestly sitting on the couch and eating take out is so much better." Rory ranted.

"We're not on our first date though." Dean stated.

"That what makes this even greater." Rory smiled and cuddled up to him. "Okay, lets go sit."

Rory led Dean to the living room and sat him down on the couch. She went over to the phone and picked up a list of fast food numbers. "What do you want?"

"Surprise me." Dean replied, turning on the tv.

Rory came back a couple minutes later. "I ordered a ton of Chinese food."

Dean laughed and rolled his eyes. "You and your mother are very interesting people."

"Why thank you." She said, plopping down next to him on the couch. "I love you," she said as she placed a kiss on his cheek.

Dean turned to face Rory. "I love you too." He gave her a real kiss.

They heard a knock on the door.

"Jeez you get fast service." Dean mentioned.

Rory stood up and Dean gave her some cash. "Well we are their best customers."

Rory walked over to the door and opened it. "Oh," she said, when she realized it wasn't the food at the door. "Um, hi Jess."

Dean stood up when he heard Jess's name. He walked over to Rory and put a hand around her waist. "What are you doing here, Jess?" Dean asked.

"Calm down there Chewy, I'm just here to give Rory a book she left at the diner." Jess said, handing over the book.

"Jess! You're a life saver! I've been looking all over for this!" Rory took the book from him.

"Chewy? As in Chewbacca?" Dean asked.

"Well, I mean… you've got the height… and the brown hair." Jess gestured up and down Dean's body.

"You need to leave." Dean demanded.

Rory turned to her boyfriend. "Dean, calm down. He was just giving me my book."

"Wow, you're very intimidating with the whole 'puffed out chest' and the 'I can't be controlled' thing going on." Jess laughed.

"Jess!" Rory said in a 'stop now' tone.

"Fine, fine. I'm gone." Jess walked down the steps and back towards the diner.

"Dean, calm down." Rory said again. She closed the door and led him back to the couch.

"Sorry." Dean apologized. "I just really don't like him."

"Dean, you know guys like him. He's really a good guy, he just acts all bad and 'too cool for school' on the outside."

"I know. That doesn't mean I have to like him. He obviously doesn't like me. He doesn't like me because he likes you."

"What?" Rory asked.

"He likes you, Rory. That's why I don't like him. I mean even if he didn't like you I still wouldn't like him, but that's why it bothers me when you're around him."

"Dean, he doesn't like me!"

"Yes he does."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Are you 5?" Dean asked.

Rory laughed at him. "Well it doesn't matter if Jess likes me or not, because I like you." Rory smirked at Dean.

"Like?"

"I love you." Rory gave Dean a kiss.

"I love you too." He said against her lips.

They pulled apart when the doorbell rang.

"That's the food!" Rory jumped up to get the door.

* * *

Lorelai and Luke got home late… well, late according to Luke. It was 10:00. They both went to their separate rooms and got ready for bed. Lorelai got out a silky lingerie dress that was hemmed in lace to put on just in case. She wasn't expecting anything since it was way past Luke's bed time. Luke put on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats. He didn't like the clutter they left on his floor, so he put his clothes away and then grabbed Lorelai's dress and extremely skimpy bathing suit to give back to her. He didn't even think to knock when he entered her room. He walked in without looking up and didn't notice she was standing there naked until he heard her call out "Luke!"

He looked up and saw her trying to cover herself with the dress. "Oh! Sorry! I should have, uh, knocked." He turned around so she could get dressed. He could tell she was done when the movement stopped. "I brought this back," he said, holding up her clothes in his hand.

"You can turn around now." She said with a slight laugh.

He turned around and gestured to her clothes in his hand. Lorelai came a little bit closer.

"Are you tired?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"What?" She could tell he was confused. "No… not really."

"Good…" she said, stepping closer.

Luke wasn't confused anymore, he knew what was happening. He grabbed her waist and pulled her impossibly close to his body. She ran her fingers through his hair and they landed on his cheeks, pulling his face closer to hers. She leaned forward and bit his bottom lip playfully. She pulled away and looked up at him to see if she could keep going. When he gave her a slight nod, she knew to keep going. She leaned back into him and placed a kiss on his lips. The kiss grew deeper and they only stopped when they needed air. Luke's hands started to wander up the bottom of her dress. The fact that she wasn't wearing anything underneath got Luke really excited. He started to tug at Lorelai's dress and she pulled away for a second to take it off. Luke took off his shirt. They both went back into the kiss and Lorelai pushed his pants down to the floor. Without releasing each others mouths, they made their way to the bed.

* * *

Their breathing had finally returned to normal. Lorelai and Luke were on separate sides of her bed facing up at the ceiling. Neither of them spoke, they were both lost in thought.

 _Oh my god._ Lorelai thought to herself. _Who would have thought? Luke is amazing. I have never in my life had sex like that. It was different, and it was amazing. So totally amazing. It was Luke…_

On the other side of the bed, Luke was thinking too. _She's amazing. Everything about her is amazing. Her hair, her body, her personality. Well, maybe not her eating habits or her movie/tv obsession but that's kind of cute._ Luke's thoughts were interrupted when Lorelai spoke.

"So how long has it been?" She asked.

"What?"

"Since you last did this?" She looked over at him.

"Um… Its been a while." Luke responded.

"What, like a week? Two? Because it doesn't seem like any more than that."

"It's been way longer than that." Luke chuckled at his love life, or lack of one. He had only ever been with Rachel and Caroline. There were a couple other girls before Rachel, but no one since.

Lorelai rolled over into Luke's arms. "That was amazing."

Luke smiled.

"No, really, Luke, that was _amazing_."

Luke laughed.

"What?" Lorelai asked, looking up at him. "Are you saying you've had better?"

"I didn't say anything." Luke laughed again.

"Luke!" She nudged him playfully.

"Fine, you're the best I've ever had." Luke rolled his eyes when he admitted it.

Lorelai smiled and kissed him. "Thank you."

They both fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

The next day, Rory stopped by the diner.

"Coffee?" Jess asked.

"I want Luke back," Rory said as she sat down at the counter. "He didn't have to ask."

"Yeah, well he gave you decaf."

"What?" Rory stopped. "He gave me decaf?" Her voice grew louder.

"Your mom was always harder to fool but he told me he's been giving you decaf for almost a year."

"What?"

Jess laughed as he poured a cup of caffeinated coffee. She took a sip and her eyes widened.

"Whoa. I've been missing out."

Jess laughed at her as she quickly drank the coffee.

"Another!" She demanded and held out the cup. Jess poured her more coffee without any weird looks like Luke gave her and her mom whenever they got more coffee. "Luke is going to get a stern talking to when he gets back."

Jess and Rory shared a moment. He was smiling at her and she was smiling at him. They were staring into each other's eyes until they were distracted by the ringing of the bell on the diner door.

"Hey suga!" Babette said when she sat down next to Rory. Jess walked away to help other customers.

"Hi Babette!" Rory greeted.

"Did you hear about the town meetin' tonight?" Nanette asked.

"No, when is it?"

"It's at 5:00. It's all about your mom."

"My mom?" Rory asked, confused.

"Yeah. Her and Luke!"

"What?"

"Taylor's having a meeting to discuss the possible consequences of them dating."

"What? That's so stupid. That makes no sense."

"I don't know." Babette shrugged. "Just so you know, I vote yes." She paused. "So, you coming?"

"Um… maybe." Rory replied.

"Okay. I'm sure Taylor would love to hear your opinion."

"Thanks Babette…" Rory finished her cup of coffee and stood up to leave. "I'll see you later." Rory waved goodbye to Babette and smiled at Jess as she left.

* * *

Luke woke up around 6:00 in the morning. The two of them were tangled up together in the bed. He lightly pulled Lorelai's arm off of him, and he slowly got out of the bed. He pulled the covers up over her, grabbed his clothes, and walked back to his room.

He changed into his usual jeans with a flannel and backwards baseball cap. He wrote a note for Lorelai and taped it to the fridge.

 _I'm at the store. Get ready to go and wear something light. I have a plan._

 _We'll leave when I get back,_

 _Luke_

* * *

Lorelai woke up and frowned when she noticed Luke wasn't next to her. She got out of bed and put a silky robe on. Walking out of her room, she passed her dress on the floor. She smiled, remembering how it came off of her. Lorelai was too lazy to pick it up and she walked out into the kitchen. There was no sign of Luke, however he left a thermos with coffee in it on the counter. When she went to look for food, she saw his note. Lorelai wasn't sure how long he had been gone so she decided to get ready right away.

It took her a while to find clothes in her messy suitcase. Because Luke wasn't very specific, she had no idea what to wear. Light. Light colored? Or light weight? Both! She decided. Lorelai pulled out a pair of jean shorts and a grey tank top. She put a light weight zip up sweater over it just in case. She finished her makeup and curled her hair and Luke still wasn't back, so she decided to see what was on tv.

 _Sports, sports, sports, ew, gross, boring. Oooh! Donna Reed!_ Lorelai thought to herself as she flipped through the channels. She watched the Donna Reed show and made fun of it, but it wasn't the same without Rory. It was still funny, just not as entertaining. _Ughhhh, come back Luke!_ She thought to herself. _What is he buying that's taking so long?_

Right on cue, the front door opened and Luke walked in.

"Yay! Now you don't have to check me into a psych ward!" Lorelai ran up and hugged him.

"What?" Luke asked, confused.

"Nevermind," she said, letting go of him. She looked down and he wasn't carrying anything. "What did you buy?"

"You'll see…" he said with a smirk.

"No, Luke! I hate surprises."

"You'll like this one." Luke paused. "I think."

"Luke!"

He laughed at her as she begged him to tell her.

"Please?"

"No."

She kissed his cheek. "How about now?"

"No."

She kissed his other cheek. "Now?"

"Nope."

She kissed his neck under his ear. "What about now?"

Luke hesitated to answer. "No."

Lorelai pulled away. "Damn, you're too hard to break."

Luke laughed at her. "Come on, let's go."

"Wait, what shoes?"

"Do you have tennis shoes?" Luke asked.

"Um… yes."

"Wear those."

Lorelai went in her room and grabbed her shoes. She put them on quickly and then went back out to Luke. He wrapped his arm around her and they walked to the car.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Stars Hollow, Rory and Dean went to the town meeting. They got there as everyone was sitting down, they weren't late like they usually were when they went with Lorelai.

"Okay everybody, I called this meeting today to talk about a certain diner owner and his new relationship with Lorelai." Taylor announced. "Now, we've been awaiting this relationship for a long time, and it is finally happening. As we all know, most of Lorelai's relationships don't last, and Luke is barely ever in relationships. The end result of a breakup between the two of them could hurt this town physically and mentally. People would fight over who's side they're on, and Luke's diner may get less business. Thoughts?"

Babette spoke up. "Let 'em have their fun, Taylor."

Babette's comment got a bunch of "yeah" 's from the crowd.

Taylor spoke again. "Now, I don't believe you guys are thinking this through! When they breakup-"

Taylor was interrupted by Rory. "You guys can't make decisions about my mom's relationships! Especially when she isn't even here! My mom and Luke are happy and if they breakup, we promise that everyone can still go to the diner, even if they're on her side."

After Rory's comment, Kirk called out. "All in favor of Lorelai and Luke say 'I'."

"Kirk, that's my job!" Taylor whined as everyone raised their hands and said "I".

"Those opposed!" Kirk called out. The room was silent.

"The people have spoken," Rory said to Taylor with a smirk and crossed arms.

"Fine." Taylor hit the gavel to the podium.

Everyone got up and left Ms. Patty's studio to go home. Rory kissed Dean and they went their separate ways. He had to go home and take care of his sister.

When Rory got home, it was a little after 6:00. She wasn't expecting anyone so she changed into pajamas and turned on the TV.

 _Why can't I get just a couple hours of peace?_ Rory thought to herself when the doorbell rang. She walked over to the door groggily and opened it. When she saw who was standing there, she stood up straight and smiled.

"Oh hi, Grandma."

* * *

 **So, there it is! Sorry if the jumps back and forth are confusing… Right now it's Sunday night for Rory and Sunday morning for Lorelai and Luke. They are coming back Sunday night which means in the Rory/Stars Hollow storyline, they'll be home soon, but in their Maine storyline I still have the rest of Sunday to write.**

 **Anyways, what's Luke's surprise?**

 **Will Lorelai like it?**

 **What will happen with Emily, and will she have a run in with Lorelai… maybe Luke?**

 **You'll find all of this out next chapter!**

 **Please, please,** _ **please,**_ **review!**

 **Okay, I have a question. I'm not sure if any of you actually read down this far, but I'm thinking about writing a L/L pregnancy story. I was wondering if I should add it into this one, or if you guys wouldn't like that.**

 **Idk, I have ideas on how to put it in this one, but I also have ideas on how to write a separate/new story, too.**

 **Idk though, I'm undecided. Let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the reviews! Please keep reviewing, I really appreciate it!**

 **Sorry it took me a while to post this chapter. I've had it ready for a couple days, I just didn't have time to post. It's extra long. Hope you like it!**

* * *

"Oh my…" Lorelai started when her and Luke pulled up to their destination. "Luke?!" Lorelai turned and looked at him with a surprised face.

He smiled. "I know, I know. It's not my thing, but I saw and advertisement for it when I was at the store yesterday and I thought you might like it."

"Well you know I'm a 5 year old on the inside so of course I like it." Lorelai smiled a smile that reached her eyes.

Luke smiled back. "I didn't really go to the store this morning."

"Oh really? I totally couldn't tell, especially since you didn't bring anything home," Lorelai said, sarcastically.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I came here, to check it out and stuff."

"It's amazing." Lorelai responded.

He kissed her and they got out of the truck. That walked along the dirt path to the fair. There was a fair going on with rides and a ferris wheel. There were carnival game booths and endless stuffed animals to win. Lorelai looked around and back up at Luke.

"You're amazing," she said.

"You're amazing." He responded.

"No you are," she said in a playful voice.

"Okay, I'm done." Luke rolled his eyes.

"Aww come on, you didn't even get through one round!" She said, batting her eyelashes.

Luke was silent for a second but then she started her puppy eyes.

He rolled his eyes before responding. "No, you are."

Lorelai smiled. "I agree!" She skipped away to the ticket line.

"What have I done?" Luke mumbled to himself as he followed her.

When he finally caught up to her, she was standing in the back of a long line to buy tickets.

"Why does this line have to be so long?" Lorelai asked.

"And full of gross kids…" Luke pitched in, looking at the boy in front of Lorelai who was licking his cotton candy stained hands.

Lorelai laughed at Luke's face.

"I got some already." Luke told her.

"What?" She asked.

"Tickets," he clarified. "I bought them this morning." He pulled out two wristbands from his pockets.

"Ah! So you did come home with something!" Lorelai said.

"What?"

"Never mind." Lorelai stuck her hand out and Luke placer the paper wristband on tightly.

The two of them walked into the fair and searched around for the first thing to do.

"Roller coaster, or carnival game?" Lorelai asked him. They were walking around with their arms linked. She was leaning into his body.

"I don't care." He replied.

"Come on Luke, tell me." Lorelai pleaded.

"Whatever you want is fine with me." Luke answered but he knew she wasn't going to stop unless he chose something.

"Luke!" She squeezed his arm.

"Fine! Let's play a game."

"Aww really?" She asked. "I think we should ride a coaster."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm fine with that too."

"Good!" She smiled and squeezed his arm again, leading him to the 'rides' side of the fair.

Lorelai found a ride called the _gravitron._ Each person stood against the wall in their own little compartment –but they weren't buckled in – in a circular room. Then, it started to spin, it went faster and faster until the people were stuck to the wall, they could barely get their heads or their arms off the wall. It was like any fast car or a plane taking off rather quickly or even just another fast roller coaster… but then, the floor came out from underneath them. The gravity was keeping them stuck to the walls. Lorelai and Luke stood next to each other. He smiled as she laughed her way through the whole thing. He knew she was happy, really happy, and he loved seeing her happy.

When they got off the ride, Lorelai could barely walk. "Woo! Really dizzy."

Luke grabbed her waist with one hand and her hand with the other. He held her up so she wouldn't fall over.

"That was fun!" Lorelai looked up at Luke. He didn't respond. "Oh come on Mr. Grumpy. You had fun." She smiled at him.

"Yes, I had fun." He replied.

"See! That wasn't too hard! Keep this attitude up and I'll have you working the ring toss booth by next week!" She laughed at him.

He loosened his grip because she was less dizzy now. "What now?" He asked.

"I want it…" Lorelai said, wandering off.

"Lorelai!" He called out, running to catch up with her.

She stopped in the middle of a crowd and stared.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked.

No response.

He looked at her and traced her gaze up to a huge panda stuffed animal.

"Since when do you like pandas?" He asked.

She responded without taking her eyes off of it. "Since always."

"I've never seen you with anything panda related." Luke pointed out. "I've never heard you mention anything panda related."

Lorelai looked up at him. "Luke?"

"What?"

"What color is my hair."

"Brown." He replied, correctly..

"Darker."

"Dark brown?" He asked.

"Darker…"

"Black?"

"Bingo!" Lorelai cheered. "And what color is my skin?"

"Tan." Luke responded correctly, again.

"Lighter."

"Light tan?"

"Lighter."

"White? He asked with a sigh. He knew where she was going with this.

"Exactly. Luke I'm basically a panda, how could I not like pandas?"

"You are _so_ weird, you know that?" Luke asked, emphasizing the so.

"Yes, and that's why you like me. Also my looks. My heavenly looks." Lorelai smiled.

"Aw geez."

Lorelai laughed. "Come on!" She pulled him over to the booth with the giant panda. It was a balloon dart booth, you know, the one where there are a bunch of balloons stuck to the wall and you throw darts at them and if you pop one, you get a prize.

"How do you get the panda?" Lorelai asked the guy at the booth.

"It's three dollars for three darts. Three darts is one turn. You have to hit two yellow balloons in one turn, and then you can have a mega prize." The guy told Lorelai.

All the balloons on the wall were different sizes. There were a lot of purple balloons. They were the biggest and the easiest to hit. Then there were green, they were the next biggest, and there were a little bit less of them. Then red. The red ones were smaller, and again, there were less. But the yellow balloons were the smallest, and there were only a few. They were in hard to hit places like the top corners and the bottom.

"Luke, give him money." Lorelai demanded.

Luke pulled out 3 dollars and handed it to the guy.

The guy handed Lorelai 3 darts.

The first dart she threw spun around and the wrong side hit a ballon and bounced off onto the ground. She threw the second one, and it hit an empty spot on the board. With the last dart, she popped a purple balloon.

"Ooh! What do I get for that?" Lorelai asked.

The guy held out a sticker that said 'Better luck next time' Lorelai grabbed it reluctantly and then turned back to Luke.

"Your turn," she said.

Luke rolled his eyes and payed the guy another 3 dollars. He handed Luke 3 more darts.

"Yellow?" He asked Lorelai.

"Yellow." Both Lorelai and the carnival stand guy answered him.

Luke took the first dart, and threw it with perfect accuracy and precision. It hit the center of a yellow balloon up in the top corner and popped it. Silver glitter flew out of the balloon.

"Ooh, pretty!" Lorelai got distracted by the glitter. She turned back to Luke. "That was perfect!" She said to him.

He took the next dart and, of course, it hit the perfect center of another yellow balloon. This time, pink glitter flew out.

"Why are you so good at this?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged in response.

"Wow! You got two! You guys get a mega prize." The guy announced.

"I still have one more dart," Luke replied.

"Okay… but you already won." The guy mentioned.

"I want to throw my dart." Luke looked back at the door and threw it.

The guy put his hands up and backed away.

Luke threw his last dart, and again, it hit another yellow balloon, releasing green glitter.

"What do you want?" The guy asked, obviously annoyed with them.

Lorelai latched onto Luke's arm. "The panda!" She pointed excitedly.

The guy handed Luke the giant panda, and they walked off, Lorelai still clinging to Luke.

"What now?" Luke asked.

"What?" She looked up at him.

"Well we can't go on anymore rides because this is too big…" Luke pointed out.

"Oh…" Lorelai's eyes wandered around the fair. She was looking for something to do, and then she saw it. The ferris wheel. Each section was big enough for 4 people. Since the panda took up the same amount of space as a person, Lorelai knew the 3 of them could fit. "Come on!" She said to Luke, pointing at the ferris wheel. She started to walk forward but was pulled back when Luke didn't move.

"I don't know…" Luke responded nervously.

"What? We can all fit."

"I know."

"So what's the problem?" Lorelai traced Luke's eyes up to the top of the ferris wheel. "Oh… I see," she said with a smirk.

"What?" Luke asked, looking back down at her.

"You're afraid of heights!" She smiled. Luke didn't seem like he was afraid of anything.

"What? No…" Luke trailed off, unconvincingly.

"Then what's the problem?" Lorelai smirked again.

"Fine." Luke rolled his eyes. "I maybe…have a problem… with…some… heights."

Lorelai laughed because he could barely get the words out. He glared at her and she stopped laughing.

"Come on!" She pleaded. "Face your fears!"

He looked at her and saw the puppy dog eyes. Damn, why did she always have to do that. Of course, he couldn't say no.

"Fine." He smiled and let himself walk over to the line.

As they got closer and closer to the front of the line, Luke only got more nervous. Every minute, Lorelai would whisper something comforting in his ear like 'you'll be okay' or 'the panda and I are right here for you', but every so often, she'd say something dirty.

"Lorelai!" He said nervously when she bit his ear.

"What?" She asked with a smirk.

He looked around to the little kids standing behind them in line. "There's other people here." He whispered.

"They're fine, Luke. No one is paying attention to us, they're all watching that guy." Lorelai pointed to an over-enthusiastic guy working at the ring toss booth.

Luke gave her another glare and she caved. "Fine, fine. Wont happen again."

Just then, the woman working at the ferris wheel told them it was their turn. Lorelai followed Luke and the panda and watched as he sat the panda down in the seat. He sat across from the panda, and Lorelai sat down next to him. The lady closed them in and the ferris wheel moved, so the next people could be let on to their seats.

Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's waist and he put one arm over her shoulders. They both stared at the panda sitting across from them. The ferris wheel kept spinning every couple of minutes to let a new group of people on. When Lorelai and Luke got stopped at the top, she could tell he was getting nervous. She lifted her head up from his shoulder and kissed him. She pulled away after a couple seconds and he looked down at her. She felt him start to relax, and she kissed him again. They kept kissing, even after the ferris wheel started to move again.

Luke completely forgot where he was and what was happening when Lorelai kissed him. He was floating, its like nothing was real except for her lips on his. Before they knew it, they were back on the bottom, and everyone had been put onto the Ferris wheel. It went around a few times, now without any stops to let people on and off. Everything faded away as Lorelai and Luke kissed. Now she was sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck. He had his arms wrapped around her waist. When they felt the ferris wheel start coming to stops again, they pulled apart. They smiled at each other and waited for their turn to get off.

After that, they decided to go back to the house. Lorelai didn't want the panda to fall out or get dirty, so she sat it down in the truck in between the two of them.

When they got back to the house, Lorelai took it inside. They decided to head home to Stars Hollow since it would be a long drive and they both had to work in the morning. Once they finished packing up, Luke loaded the truck. He put the suitcases and the panda in the back, but he made sure to tie everything down with bungee cords so Lorelai didn't have to worry about anything falling out. He came back into the house where Lorelai was sipping on a cup of coffee.

"You ready?" He asked.

Lorelai stood up and put the coffee down. "No." She forcefully placed her lips on his.

He pulled away just for a second. "Lorelai!"

She gave him _the look_ , and he stopped fighting it. They made their way to her bedroom, and did it one last time before they had to go home. They weren't sure when they would get another chance, so they made it count.

When they were done, Lorelai and Luke were trying to catch their breath.

"Ready?" Lorelai asked him.

"Yes," he said after taking a huge breath.

They both waited for a second before getting out of the bed and putting their clothes back on. Lorelai didn't bother fixing her makeup and hair because she figured Rory would be asleep by the time they got home.

Once they were dressed, Lorelai and Luke made their way to the truck, and drove home.

* * *

"Grandma?" Rory asked, surprised when she saw Emily standing at their door.

Emily made her way inside the house.

"Your mother is still ignoring my calls." She said.

"I know." Rory replied, shutting the front door.

"I am going to wait here until she gets home." Emily sat down on their couch.

"Grandma!"

"Rory. I am waiting until your mother gets home, because I am _her_ mother, and I would like to speak with her."

"She doesn't want to talk to you!"

"I don't care if she wants to talk to me, I want to talk to her."

"Grandma! What are you going to tell her? That she disappointed you? Because yeah, she knows. Are you going to tell her that she shouldn't be with Luke? Yeah, she knows you think that too. But she's doing what's best for her, not for you. Luke is best for her, not Dad." Rory stood in the living room looking down at Emily.

"How can you say that?" Emily asked, disgusted. "That your mother is better off with some filthy diner owner and not your _father._ "

"Luke has been more of a father to me than Dad ever has. And Luke is not filthy! Have you ever even met Luke? Or been to the diner?" Rory asked.

"Well… no."

"See! Just give them a chance! Maybe get to know Luke a little better, visit the diner."

"Fine." Emily responded. "I'm still waiting."

"Fine," Rory said when she sat down next to her. They both watched tv in silence and waited until Lorelai got home.

* * *

It was after 11:00 when Lorelai and Luke finally got home. Lorelai grabbed the panda, and Luke grabbed her suitcase. He was going to help her bring all of her stuff inside and up the stairs to her room.

They were laughing at a conversation they had in the car when they walked up to the door. Lorelai had told Rory to leave the door unlocked so she wouldn't have to get her keys out. Lorelai and Luke kept laughing as they walked into the house until they noticed who was standing there in the foyer. Both of their faces went blank.

"Um, hi Mom." Lorelai said.

Emily and Rory were standing in the foyer because they heard Luke's truck pull up.

"Lorelai, can I speak with you?" Emily asked, glaring at Luke.

He was uncomfortable under her gave. He didn't know if he should do or say anything, so he just stood there, looking nervous.

"Sure Mom, why not?" Lorelai said sarcastically. She gave Rory a look and Rory responded with an 'I don't know' shrug.

Lorelai followed her Mom into the kitchen.

"What are you thinking going on vacation with a man and leaving Rory all alone?" Emily asked.

"I'm thinking it's time for me to run away and be a groupie and follow a band all around the world. Rory can figure her own life out."

"Lorelai!" Emily was annoyed with her sarcasm.

"I was thinking," Lorelai started, more serious this time. "Rory is a smart kid and she can be left alone for a weekend, and I needed to get away for a while and have a weekend all to myself and have fun."

"But you weren't alone." Emily responded after a few moments.

"No, Mom, I wasn't. I was with Luke. Luke and I went away for a weekend and had fun. Much needed fun."

"Yes, I can tell by your hair." Emily pointed at Lorelai's tangled hair and smudging makeup. "Lorelai, you can't go running around leaving your daughter alone all the time!"

Lorelai suddenly got really annoyed with her mother. "Mom! I never leave Rory alone! I am always here! Now, we both know you're not here because of Rory, you're here because of Christopher! Mom! I am not in love with Christopher! He's the one who's never here! He's the one who didn't help with Rory when she was growing up! I have always been here! It was all me!" Lorelai yelled at her mother. Even Babette could hear what was going on.

"Lorelai, lower your voice!" Emily yelled.

"No! Mom! Can't you see? I'm not the one ruining my life! You are! You can't force me to do anything that I don't want to do. Sure, ending up with Christopher sounded amazing to me when Rory was growing up, but it wasn't because of Christopher. I was in love with the idea of a family, not in love with him. Mom, I'm tired of this. I'm tired of all this fighting, of you trying to control my life. I may make mistakes, but I will deal with them and learn from them by myself. I have done one hell of a job raising Rory on my own without Chris or you. Now the only reason you are back in my life, is because I wanted Rory to know her grandparents. Just because you're in her life, does not mean you're in mine. Now I need you to leave." Lorelai's voice started to quiet down.

"Fine! You don't want to be with Christopher! That still doesn't mean you can go traipsing around with some filthy diner owner."

"God Mom, you don't even know him. You have this image in your head of the perfect man for me and if I'm with someone who doesn't fit that image, you sabotage it. I'm not letting you do that with Luke. Mom, I really like Luke, and he really likes me. I wish you could get to know him and see how amazing he really is, and how much he means to me, but I don't want you anywhere near him. All you're going to do is make him feel like he's worthless, and he's not, he's so not. Please leave Mom."

Emily glared at her daughter and walked back to the foyer where Luke and Rory were standing in exactly the same spots. They hadn't moved, and they heard everything.

She walked out the door and had her driver take her away.

Luke saw the tears in Lorelai's eyes when she came back to the foyer. He went up to her and hugged her. She cried into his shoulder.

"Shh… it's okay." Luke comforted.

"Mom," Rory said.

Lorelai pulled away from Luke and wiped her eyes. "I'm fine."

Rory looked at her Mom, concerned.

"Really, I'm fine. I knew it was coming, I just wasn't expecting it to be now."

Rory nodded and looked up at Luke who had a concerned look on his face too. She decided to give them space.

"I'll be in my room…" Rory said as she walked away.

Luke looked into Lorelai's glassy eyes. "You okay?"

She smiled up at him. "I'm fine." Lorelai wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He grabbed her hips and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. They stayed like that for a few minutes until they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Lorelai opened it.

"Babette?"

"Hey sweets," Babette said as she walked in. "You okay? I could hear you yelling. I would have come sooner but I was in the bath." Lorelai and Luke both looked down at Babette's robe. "Oh, hey Luke," Babette greeted when she finally saw him.

Both Lorelai and Luke stayed silent.

"Wait… are you two fighting?" Babette asked. "Oh no, the town meetin'. I told everyone that you guys would last. You'd stay together. I was wrong. Now Taylor is going to be mad and everyone is going to hate me." Babette rambled.

"No, Babette, we weren't fighting." Lorelai clarified.

"Then what was the yelling for?"

"My mom was here."

"Oh." Babette looked back and forth between Luke and Lorelai. "I see."

Luke and Lorelai gave each other confused looks. Neither of them knew what Babette was thinking.

"Wait." Luke started to speak. "What town meeting?"

"Oh, we held a meeting about you guys. You won."

Luke was confused but he decided not to ask.

"Well at least we won," Lorelai stated.

"Yeah. Okay dolls, I'll leave you alone," Babette said with a smirk and a wink.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and laughed. "Okay, bye Babette."

"Tell Rory hi for me!" Babette called out as she walked down their porch steps.

"I will." Lorelai waved goodbye before shutting the door. "Can you stay?" She asked, turning to Luke.

"What?"

"Can you stay here tonight?"

"Wouldn't that be a little weird?" Luke asked, referring to Rory.

"No. I can talk to her. But no, it wouldn't be weird." Lorelai smiled up at him.

"Uh, okay. I'll take your things upstairs," Luke said to her. He gave her a slight smile and a kiss before grabbing her suitcase and walking upstairs.

Lorelai went to talk to Rory.

"Hey, kid." Lorelai walked into Rory's room. "Babette says hi."

Rory responded with a single "hi." They were both silent for a second, not knowing what to say.

"Rory, I know you always thought… me and dad… I don't know. I thought it too."

"No Mom. Yeah I thought it would happen, but no. You're doing the right thing. You and Luke. Dad isn't ready, he isn't right."

"You think so?" Lorelai asked, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Yeah." Rory leaned her head on Lorelai's hand.

"Okay I have a question for you, and don't feel like you have to say yes, because you don't. You can easily say no if it makes you uncomfortable or if it's weird." Lorelai rambled.

Rory looked up at her mom, waiting for the question.

"Can Luke stay here tonight?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, Mom. Luke can stay." Rory smiled up at her mother. "Just don't be too loud okay?" Rory laughed at her mom's reaction.

"Rory!" Lorelai said as if she were disgusted. Then she changed her facial expression and voice. "No promises," she said with a smirk.

"Mom!" Rory called as Lorelai started to leave the room.

"No changing your mind now!" Lorelai called back to her.

Rory rolled her eyes at her mom and got ready for bed.

When Lorelai went out to the foyer, both the panda and the suitcase were gone meaning Luke had taken two trips to bring her stuff upstairs.

She walked up the stairs quietly and found him looking around at pictures in her room. Luke had been to her house too many times to count and he had probably seen her room, but he had never really been _in_ her room.

"Hey," she said, standing in the doorway.

Luke jumped and put a picture down. "Oh, sorry… they were just… they were here so…"

"It's okay." Lorelai smiled at him.

Luke stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say, so Lorelai went up to him and grabbed both his hands. She gave him a gentle kiss and then pulled him towards the bed. She sat him down on the edge of the bed, and then walked off to her closet.

Instead of ripping her clothes off and throwing them on the floor, Lorelai made sure to take each layer off slowly and seductively because she knew Luke was watching. She placed her clothes in the hamper until she was standing in just her bra, and lace underwear. She grabbed a silky lingerie dress from her closet. She didn't like wearing dresses to bed, and she didn't wear them too often because she never had guys around, but they're just too pretty to pass up in the stores, especially if they're on sale.

In this moment, Lorelai thanked herself for buying night-dresses like these even though she had no use for them, because she does now.

Luke watched her as she took her clothes off and put the dress on. He watched as she unhooked her bra, and slid it off through the dress. He jumped out of his thoughts when she turned around. He realized that he shouldn't still be sitting there.

"Um," he said as he stood up. "I should probably…" He got more nervous as Lorelai came closer to him. "I should go."

Luke started towards her bedroom door, but she pulled him back. "Stay," she said at a whisper.

He looked back at her, confused.

"Rory said you can stay." Lorelai gave him a slight smile. "Stay."

Luke looked around nervously. He wasn't sure what to do. Of course he wanted to stay with her, and he'd stay with her in a heartbeat if Rory wasn't there. He cares about Rory more than he cares about himself, and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Lorelai nodded in response.

"And Rory?" Luke asked.

"Rory is okay with it." Lorelai realized Luke was nervous. It made her happy that he cared so much about Rory. "She said you can stay as long as we're not too loud," Lorelai said with a smirk.

"Aw geez."

"Come on Luke, stay." Lorelai looked up at him with her usual puppy eyes.

He looked into her eyes and couldn't resist. "Okay. I should go get my stuff."

"You don't have to." Lorelai responded.

"What?"

"Well, were you just going to get something to sleep in?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah…"

"You can just sleep in what you're wearing." Lorelai looked him up and down.

"You're okay with that?" Luke asked.

"Luke we slept naked yesterday. I'm fine with you sleeping in your boxers."

Luke gave Lorelai another look.

"Oh come on, I'll help you." Lorelai pushed Luke's flannel down off his shoulders, revealing the t-shirt and his muscles underneath. When he didn't protest, Lorelai unzipped his jeans, and let them fall to his ankles. "There." Lorelai looked up at Luke who was staring down at her. "Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bed.

Luke pulled down the covers on Lorelai's bed. When he got in, he was instantly at peace. The whole bed, the comforter, the sheets, the pillows, they all smelled like her. When Lorelai got in next to him, it felt normal. It felt _right._

* * *

 **Well, there it is. Please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Comments, questions, suggestions, feelings... anything. Let me know.**

 **Oh by the way, the ride in the beginning of this chapter, I promise it's real and it's safe. IDK if it's a common ride or not and I didn't use the real name of it, but just in case you've never heard of or seen a ride like this, I promise, it's real, it's safe, and it's really fun. Sorry if I did a bad job at explaining it, lol, but small fair's usually don't have big roller coasters, and the fair that comes to my city every year has a ride like this, so I decided to use it.**

 **Thanks for reading, next chapter should be out soon.**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N – Hey guys! I am SO sorry it took me over two weeks to get this chapter out. I got really busy with school, and then I had trouble writing this chapter. I was originally going to have a fight or a breakup or something due to Emily, but I didn't like that. Then I was going to have a fight and then Rachel would come and Luke would be confused about what to do, but I didn't really like that either. Anyways, lucky for you, there's no break up or fight in this chapter. It is sort of a filler chapter, which is why it was so hard for me to write it, but the next chapter should be good.**_

 _ **Please let me know what you think and review! I really do take them to heart and think about everything you guys say! It means a lot and I really appreciate it. Thanks for reading!**_

 **Also, Please read my _new story_! It is another Luke and Lorelai story, but it is a lot different than this one, so here's a little summary. Lorelai and Luke kiss that night when he walks her home after Liz's wedding, but it wasn't as great as Luke expected their first kiss to be when Lorelai told him she was leaving. This story is set five years later when Lorelai comes back to Stars Hollow. There are flashbacks in the story from right after she left, and from before she left. There is also a little bit of Jess and Rory, but their story is very unfinished. As of right now, it's a one-chapter, 11,000 word story (in case you were wondering, the chapters in this story range from around 3,000 to 5,000 and this chapter is a little over 4,000), but I may or may not add more. Please let me know what you think! it is called Departures and Returns. **

_**Sorry that was long, now let's get into the story…**_

* * *

When Luke woke up in the morning, Lorelai had taken over the bed. She had all the pillows, and only left him with a corner of the comforter. He laughed and gave her a kiss on the forehead before getting up. His bare feet walked silently on the cold wood floor as he grabbed his clothes. He went into the bathroom and put them on. When he was done changing, he walked quietly down the stairs, and decided to keep the note-leaving tradition going.

 _Lorelai,_

 _I have to open the diner today. Come by, I'll make you pancakes._

 _-Luke_

He left the letter on the coffee pot since he knew she was way more likely to look at the coffee pot than she was to look at the fridge.

He went outside to the truck and made sure all of Lorelai's stuff was out of his truck and in the house, and then he drove over to the diner.

He was a little later than usual, and people were crowding outside the door.

"Sorry," he said, pulling the keys out. When he unlocked the door, he pulled his stuff into the diner, and then left it open for everyone else. "Sit wherever, I'll be back in a second."

Luke rushed upstairs with his bags and changed his clothes. He came back downstairs in an almost identical pair of jeans, and a different colored flannel, and people took notice.

"Fun night last night?" Patty asked, eyeing him up and down with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Luke asked. He was expecting to take her order and he didn't fully register what she was saying for a few seconds. "Oh, no. Not, not that. I was just, uh, no. Order?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Eh, I don't believe you." Patty smirked. "Egg sandwich and some sausage." She ordered.

Luke took everyone's orders and then immediately rushed to the kitchen to start cooking. He was planning on waking up early and cooking some food before opening time so he'd be ready, but obviously that didn't happen. Now, he had to rush, because there was no one else there to help him cook.

He handed Kirk his plate and tried to get away quickly, but Kirk stopped him.

"Slow service today, huh?" Kirk asked.

"Drop it, Kirk." Luke glared at him and then started to walk away.

"But I need-"

"I don't care!" Luke called back to him as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Once he finished getting everyone their food, and the breakfast rush started to slow down, Lorelai and Rory came in at their usual time.

Luke was happy when he saw them sit down at a table, because that always means they're staying for a while.

"Pancakes?" He asked them with a smile.

Lorelai nodded.

"Chocolate chip please!" Rory added.

He smiled and turned away. He came back with coffee, and then went off to the kitchen to make the pancakes. He already had the batter made, he just had to cook it and add the chocolate chips.

"He seems happy," Rory pointed out to her Mom.

"Yeah." She smiled. "I'm happy too."

***** After a few weeks, Lorelai and Luke were still going strong. They were the talk of the town. Everyone mentioned the way Lorelai's skin was glowing and they mentioned the sparkle Luke got in his eyes every time he saw her.

Luke was staying in his apartment, but Lorelai would be there every night. Most of the time she'd leave around 10:00 and go home, but sometimes, especially if he didn't have an early delivery, she'd stay the night.

Rory was fine with it. She was happy that her mom was happy. It made her think. Where was that sparkle with Dean. Did they still have it? She couldn't tell. Of course she loved Dean, but did they have that sparkle?

Rory snapped out of her thoughts. _Of course,_ they had that sparkle. They just haven't been hanging out much recently, and if they did, she'd realize they still have the sparkle. But, did they really?

Who knows, maybe the sparkle coming from Luke and Lorelai was just because of the sex… But Rory didn't think so.

Lorelai hadn't had any contact with Emily since they talked that night after they got home from Maine. She knew she would show up again, she just didn't know when or how, and that scared her. She _hated_ that not knowing when her mom was going to show up scared her, but it did.

It was winter now, and snow was falling. Lorelai loved the snow, and she loved sharing it with Luke.

"Hey!" She greeted him and sat down at the counter.

He leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss that lasted longer than she expected.

"Hey." He replied with a smirk.

Lorelai looked around at the crowded diner, surprised that Luke kissed her for so long in front of everyone. "Well hello to you too." She smiled up at him.

He turned around and grabbed her a cup of coffee. "What's up?" He asked.

"We have this winter festival thing at the Inn, so I have to be there all day and I'm staying with Sookie tonight so we can plan and stuff, and then I have to be there all day tomorrow too." She took a sip of her coffee. "Meaning, I won't see you until tomorrow night."

He took a second to answer. "Well I guess we'll just have to make the most of it."

"Ooh dirty dirty!"

"That was intentional."

"Ooh! What has gotten into you?" Lorelai asked with a smile.

"Oh, just this girl I'm with. She's incredibly beautiful and crazy in all the right ways."

Lorelai smiled. "Keep this up mister, I like it." She gave him a quick kiss and then got up. His eyes watched her until she could no longer be seen.

At the Inn, Lorelai was talking to Sookie.

They embraced each other in a huge hug, as usual, and Sookie brought up Luke's butt again.

"Okay, I know you already told me this a million times since you got back, but tell me again. What does it feel like?"

"Sookie!"

The two of them laughed at Sookie's need for description of Luke's butt.

"It's really firm."

They laughed again.

"So really, how's it going?" Sookie asked seriously.

"Good. Really good. I can't believe it never happened before. There were so many times where I thought he might have liked me and there were so many times where I thought I might like him, but… Now this happened, and I am so incredibly happy."

Sookie smiled. "I can tell. You definitely look it, and he does too."

"Really?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh yeah. I went to high school with him. Sure, he was a few years older, but I don't think I've ever seen Luke this happy in my entire life. Ask everyone else, they'd all agree with me."

Lorelai smiled again. "Thanks Sook."

"Lorelai, the delivery man messed up our order," Michel said, barging into the kitchen.

"Well, fix it."

"No."

"Why?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't want to."

"Michel, that's your job."

"No!" Michel stomped hid foot down.

"Michel!"

"The man scares me!" He admitted.

Both Lorelai and Sookie laughed. Michel got embarrassed and ran out of the room.

"Well, I better go help him." Lorelai hugged Sookie. "Thanks," she said before walking out.

* * *

Luke was busy at the diner, but every time he heard the jingle of the bell, he looked up. Every time, he hoped it was Lorelai, even though she said she wouldn't be back until late the next night.

Luke kept himself busy at work so he wouldn't think about her. He didn't like it, but he was addicted. He was addicted to Lorelai Gilmore. He couldn't stop thinking about her, and he didn't want to stop. He was completely in love with her, and he realized it was time to tell her. Somewhere between arguing with Kirk about tax, and yelling at Taylor to get out of the diner, Luke decided he would tell Lorelai the night she comes back.

* * *

"No, the guests will be here soon! We need the arrival decorations done in less than an hour!" Lorelai called out to a worker.

"It's going to take us at least two!" He yelled back.

"I'll give you more money!"

"Done!"

Lorelai sighed and walked back to the kitchen with her clip board.

When she got in, she sat down and took deep breaths.

"Why does this have to be so stressful? We need decorations now for when the guests show up, but we have to change them tonight for the festival tomorrow, so they're not the same. It's not that hard people! I wrote it all down!" Lorelai was half talking to Sookie and half talking to herself.

"Well, honey, no one can read your handwriting. Not even you." Sookie was too busy making candy snowflakes to put on the pillows in the guests' rooms to look over to Lorelai.

"The dinner tonight is good, right?" Lorelai asked.

Sookie looked over with a glare.

"I don't mean good as in tastes good, I know it will taste amazing. I'm just making sure you'll have the menu ready in time."

"Oh. Yeah, we're actually good for once!"

"Good." Lorelai sighed and stood up again. "I got to get back out there. Maybe help out up decorations. See you later Sook."

"Bye hun."

Sookie went back to making her food, and Lorelai went back out to the lobby.

"Lookin' good guys! Faster, faster! This place needs to look like a winter wonderland in half an hour!" Lorelai walked all around the Inn to check on the progress when she noticed a woman with red curly hair waiting at the desk. "Oh,hi! Sorry, this place is a little crazy right now. Have you been waiting long?" Lorelai went back behind the desk.

"No, I just got here. I'm actually here for the event, but I'm just the photographer." The girl responded with a big smile.

"Oh, nice."

"Yeah." She could sense the insincerity in Lorelai's voice. "It started out as a love for photography, but taking pictures for fun doesn't pay the bills, so sometimes I do events or weddings. Anything that pays well."

"That's actually really cool. Do you travel a lot?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Wow, what is up with me meeting photographers recently?" Lorelai mumbled to herself.

"What?" The woman asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. You're just the second photographer I've met in 2 weeks."

"Well, I guess photography is pretty common then."

"Yeah." Lorelai agreed. "What's your name?"

"I'm Rachel, and my room should be under the name Goldman."

"Yes, here it is. You are in room 12." Lorelai grabbed a room key and handed it to Rachel.

"Thank you."

"Why are you here early? Just wondering." Lorelai asked before Rachel could turn around.

"The Goldmans are paying for my room and they're paying for my service but they didn't pay my transportation. Plus, I used to live in this town and I wanted to take my time and look around, see what's changed."

"Well, not much changes around here." Lorelai and Rachel laughed for a second.

Somehow, Lorelai still hadn't realized who Rachel really was. Rachel mentioned living here and being a photographer, but Lorelai still didn't realize she was Luke's Rachel.

"Actually, a lot has changed. Not physically, but the people have changed. I don't know, it's weird. Plus this Inn, it's amazing. I'm assuming you're the manager?"

"Yeah, I run the place." Lorelai smiled as Rachel pulled out her camera.

"You've done a great job."

"Thank you!"

After a couple of snapshots, Rachel put her camera back in its case.

"Well, I guess I better get up there." Rachel gestured with her keys up the stairs.

"Yes, um, enjoy your stay."

Rachel nodded as she walked up the stairs with her little duffel bag and her camera.

Lorelai waved, and then went back to check on the decoration progress again.

* * *

That night had been stressful. Tons of rushing around and changing plans. When it was finally over, Lorelai collapsed into the kitchen.

"Ughhhhhh."

"Sweetie, these floors are disgusting."

"I don't care! I'm tired!" Lorelai demanded.

Sookie finished up what she was doing, and then pulled Lorelai up into a chair. "There you go."

"The Goldmans suck."

"Yeah, I know. But they gave us a _huge_ paycheck."

"Yeah. Hey, did you meet the photographer?"

"No, I don't think so." Sookie answered.

"Oh. She was really nice."

"What was her name?" Sookie asked.

"Rachel."

"Rachel who?" Sookie's eyes widened.

"I didn't get a last name."

"What did she look like?"

Lorelai realized Sookie was acting weird. "Sookie? What's wrong?"

"What did she look like?" She repeated.

"Um, tall, skinny, red curly hair."

"And she's the photographer?"

"Yeah, Sookie, why?"

"That's _Rachel."_

"Yeah, Sook, I know her name is Rachel."

"No. _The_ Rachel. _Luke's_ Rachel."

"What? Oh god." Lorelai put her hands up to her head. "I should have known! She told me she used to live here!"

"Where is she?" Sookie asked.

"She told me she was going to go walk around the town some more. She was going to take pictures and see old friends. Oh god, she's probably at Luke's right now."

"Lorelai, calm down." Sookie grabbed each of her shoulders. "Nothing is going to happen. Luke loves you." Sookie noticed that Lorelai squirmed a little when she said love. "No, Lorelai. Even if he hasn't said it, it's true."

"I don't know."

"He probably just doesn't want to freak you out by saying it too soon."

Lorelai gave her a half smile. "Thanks Sook."

"Now, do you want to stop by there before we head back to my house?"

"No, I'm good."

"Good. I'm ready." Sookie gestured to the door.

"Yeah, me too."

The two of them walked back to Sookie's house and stayed up almost all night re-planning for the next day because the Goldmans decided to change their original plans. As they were planning, Lorelai got interrupted for a second when Luke called.

* * *

At the diner, Luke was about to close up. The dinner rush was slowing down and the only people left were him, Kirk, Caesar, and a little family in the corner table. The family had just paid their bill, meaning they were about to leave. Luke cleaned up the kitchen, and let Caesar take off. Kirk was probably going to sit there until Luke kicked him out.

Just as he was cleaning off the counter, the little bell on the door rung. Luke looked up, unsuspecting, and his eyes widened when he realized who it was.

"Rachel? What are you doing here?" He asked. He kept his face emotionless. He didn't know what to think.

"Don't worry, I'm just here for work." Rachel smiled and sat down at a stool.

"You work?" Luke asked as if it was the last thing he ever expected to hear from her.

"Paid to take pictures."

"Oh."

The room because silent. The bell rang again, but it was just the family finally leaving.

"So," Rachel said.

"What do you want?" Luke blurted.

"I don't want anything."

"Then why are you here?" He asked.

"I told you, I'm just here for work. I'm the photographer for a huge family that is hosting… actually I don't know what it is… there's lots of food. It's winter themed and they wanted a bunch of candids."

"Wait. You're part of the winter festival thing? At the Independence Inn?" Luke remembered that Lorelai was planning that.

"Yeah…"

"Um, did you happen to, uh, meet any of the workers? At the Inn?" Luke asked, trying to hide his concern.

"Yeah, a lot."

"Who?"

Rachel could tell something was up.

"Well, I met an an angry French guy, a few of the maids, and the lady that was running it."

"Lorelai?" Luke asked. His face still wasn't giving away any information.

"Yeah."

They were both silent again, and Luke looked over at Kirk with a stare that said 'don't say anything'. Kirk obeyed, for once.

"And?" Rachel asked.

"And what?"

"Why did you want to know if I met Lorelai?"

"I didn't."

"Uh, yeah, you did."

"No."

"Yes you did!" Kirk chipped in.

"Kirk!" Luke yelled and glared over at him.

"I'm leaving." Kirk jumped up quickly and hurried out the door. Luke rolled his eyes when Kirk had to come back in for his jacket.

Once Kirk was finally gone, Luke and Rachel were the only two people left in the diner.

"Lorelai." Rachel said her name in a softer, slower tone.

"What?"

"There it is."

"There what is?" Luke asked, confused by this whole situation.

"You either like her, or you're with her."

Luke was silent for a second. "How did you know that?"

"I could see it in your eyes when I said her name."

After another moment of awkward silence, Luke spoke up again. "Does she know who you are?"

"I don't think so…" she responded, not sure how much Lorelai knew about her history with Luke. "How would she?"

Luke rolled his eyes and raised one eyebrow.

"Oh. The town," Rachel realized.

"Yeah."

"I don't think so."

"Good."

Rachel sat there as Luke wiped off all the tables and flipped the chairs on top. Neither of them spoke for a good couple of minutes. When Luke finally finished, he went back over to the counter.

"You look good," she said with a smile.

He flashed a quick smile back and nodded his head, but he waited to speak for a few seconds. "You do too."

Rachel smiled back up at him.

"So, how long have you been with her?" Rachel asked.

Luke took a deep breath. He wasn't sure what to say. If he said a few weeks, which was the truth, it would sound like their relationship wasn't serious, but he couldn't lie.

"A while," he responded.

"A while as in?" Rachel asked, wanting a little more specificity.

Luke's expression became grumpy. "A while."

Rachel looked into his face. She still couldn't read him. She could never read him. She never knew what he was thinking.

"Is it serious?" She asked.

"Yes." Rachel was taken aback by the speed of Luke's answer. She had barely finished her question before he answered. "Yes, it's serious."

"Luke?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry… for leaving."

"Many times."

"Yeah. I said I'm just here because of work, but I know you can tell I'm lying."

Luke remained silent, so rachel continued. "Part of me was hoping you'd still be here, waiting, but I'm glad you moved on. It'll help me move on."

"What the hell do you need to move on from?" Luke asked, his voice louder than he expected. "You're the one that left. You'd leave, and you'd come back, and then you'd leave again, and who the hell knows what you did when you were away. It was never about me, it was always about you."

"Luke…" Rachel started.

"Get out." Luke looked away from her.

"What?" She asked.

"I can't do it this time. I won't do it."

"Do what?"

"Fall for you again!" Luke slammed his hand on the counter. "Every time you come back, I welcome you with open arms because I love you. But this time, I'm not doing that. I'm not going to let you in just so you can hurt me again! I'm not ruining what I have with Lorelai for you!"

"Well, do you love her?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. Of course I do. I'm so in love with her, but she doesn't know that yet, and having you here could ruin what we have, so you need to get out." Luke walked around the counter and gestured to the door. As Rachel started to get up, Luke opened the door for her.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I really am." Rachel said as she walked up to Luke. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

He couldn't help but smile at her. Even though he didn't want to be with her anymore, she was still his high school sweetheart, and he would always love her. But it was time to move on, completely. He already loved Lorelai more than he ever lived Rachel, and he wanted to see where it could go. He wanted this to be it. He wanted Lorelai to be _the one._

As Rachel walked through the door, Luke called out to her. "Don't talk to Lorelai."

Rachel nodded back to him before crossing the street to head back to the Inn.

Once Rachel was out of sight, Luke flipped the sign to closed, and locked up. He turned off all the lights and then went back upstairs to his apartment. Luke could smell Lorelai's lingering fragrance since she had been up there so often recently. He took in the smell, and then went to take a shower. It was a little weird not having her there, and for the life of him, he couldn't remember what he did when she wasn't there, and it had only been a few weeks.

When he was out of the shower, he put on the shirt she liked to borrow and a pair of boxers.

It was still early, and Luke realized he couldn't sleep. He decided to call Lorelai. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea since she was busy, but he needed to hear her voice.

After a few rings, Lorelai answered.

" _Why are you calling so late?"_ She asked, surprised since he usually went to bed early.

"It's barely past ten," he answered.

" _Which means it's barely past your bed time."_

"What's up?" He asked.

" _Sookie and I are working on a new plan for tomorrow because the family changed their mind about pretty much everything."_

"Why can't people just choose something, and stick with it?" Luke asked. Lorelai laughed because she knew a rant was coming. "If you pick a theme, keep the theme, don't change it. If you decide to leave, stay gone, and if you come back, don't leave again! It's simple! People get tired of other people changing their minds."

" _Obviously,"_ Lorelai answered with a little chuckle.

"What?" Luke asked.

" _I love ranting Luke."_ Lorelai's eyes widened when she realized what she said.

Luke heard Lorelai gasp on the phone. After a few seconds, he spoke again. "So, um. Someone came by today, and you uh, you actually met them, a little bit ago, but I'm not sure if you knew who they were."

" _Rachel?"_ Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

" _Sookie."_

"Oh." A few seconds of silence passed. "Well, I just want you to know that we're good. Nothing is going to happen with Rachel."

Lorelai let another few seconds pass. _"Good."_

"Okay, well, I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing."

" _Oh, now we're talking about what you're like in bed."_

"Aw geez."

Lorelai laughed for a second.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

" _I'm looking forward to it,"_ she responded.

They both hung up their phones and Luke got back into bed. Lorelai said 'I love ranting Luke'. Now, that may not be a full on 'I love you', but it definitely meant something. It meant she was ready. She was ready to hear it from him, and he didn't have to wait anymore. But what if he said it and she thought he only said it because she sort of kind of said it. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had to tell her soon, and he wanted to tell her soon. Because it's true, he loves her, and he wants her to know it.

Lorelai felt a little more unsettled by the conversation. She almost said she loved him, and he didn't respond. He changed the subject. Could that mean he doesn't love her? But he told her not to worry about Rachel. That's a good thing, right? Because he loved Rachel, and if he's choosing her over Rachel, that must mean he loves her too, right? Lorelai didn't know what to think, and she hated the feeling of not knowing. There's a lot of uncertainty in her life right now, and she's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. All she knows, is that she's happy, and she doesn't want anything to change.

* * *

 _ **A/N – Sorry sorry sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! The next one will be out soon, I promise!**_

 _ **Please please please review!**_

 _ **I love reading them and they mean a lot.**_

 _ **Plus, if you have any stories you'd like me to read, please let me know and I will!**_

 _ **Also, please read and review my new story, Departures and Returns! Let me know if you want more. (I think I will add at least one more chapter no matter what.)**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N – Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! I'm sorry I lied and said this chapter would be out soon. What has it been, like 3 weeks? Idk. I'm so sorry. But here it is.**

 **Please review. I read and reply to all of them. Suggestions, comments, criticism, questions. Anything is great!**

 **I hope you like this chapter and I've been really busy recently and I have finals next week, so after that, I should be totally free to write and post. I probably won't have a chapter out any time this week, but I'm out of school on Fridays and I promise I'll write up a bunch of great chapters. Reviews will definitely inspire me to keep writing.**

 **Sorry for the long authors note. Let's get into the story.**

 _ **Disclaimer - I'm not sure if I've been putting disclaimers on this story or not because I don't really understand the point. Anyways, I don't own Gilmore Girls.**_

* * *

The next day, after the Goldman's left, Rachel stuck around.

"Hey," she said as she walked up to Lorelai.

"Um, hi Rachel."

"So, I'm guessing you know who I am by now. I know who you are."

"Yeah…"

"I just wanted to let you know, Luke is an amazing guy, and you seem like a great girl. I'm glad he's found you, because I didn't treat him right and I know that now. Anyways, I just wanted to say that he loves you. He told me not to talk to you, but I'm doing it anyway. He loves you _so_ much and I don't want to see him get hurt. Please, be good with him. Even though he may not act like he has feelings, he does, and they're very fragile."

"Yeah, I know." Lorelai smiled.

"Bye, Lorelai. Hopefully I'll see you again."

"Bye Rachel."

Lorelai smiled when Rachel was out of sight. 'He loves you'. That line replayed in Lorelai's head. Sure, people have told her that Luke loves her many times before, but this was Rachel. _Luke's_ Rachel. This means he told her that he loves Lorelai. Thinking about all of this made Lorelai's heart flutter. Luke loves her.

Lorelai helped Sookie clean for a while until she finally headed over to Luke's. It was 9:00, and the diner was still open, but nearly empty. The only person left was Kirk.

"Hello..." Kirk greeted, elongating his word.

"Um, hi Kirk." Lorelai sat down at her usual first stool.

"He's in the back."

"Okay Kirk."

After a few moments of sitting there in awkward silence with Kirk, with only the sound of his chewing, Lorelai got up to find Luke.

"Uh, you're not allowed-"

"I'm fine, Kirk." Lorelai ignored him and walked into the storage room.

She found Luke unpacking boxes, and he had no idea she was standing there. She decided to take advantage of the situation. Lorelai tiptoed behind a shelf that Luke was facing. He couldn't see her, but she could see him.

When he was looking down, she knocked off a pack of hamburger buns from the shelf.

Luke popped up, and then he noticed what fell. Lorelai watched his eyebrows furrow, trying to figure out how it fell. He picked it up, put it back in its place, and then went back to cutting open a new box of supplies.

When Lorelai noticed another chance, she knocked off a bag of potatoes.

This time, Luke knew something was up.

"Kirk! I told you to stop coming into the storage room!" He called out.

Lorelai emerged from behind the shelf. "Aww, you thought I was Kirk? Couldn't you have at least thought of someone hot?"

Luke let out a chuckle and a smile formed on his face. He didn't feel like responding to her comment, so he just went up to her and pulled her in to an impossibly tight hug. One of his hands pulled her lower back closer, and the other rested in the middle of her upper back.

Both of Lorelai's arms were under Luke's, and she wrapped them up and around so they were resting on the back of his shoulders.

After a few minutes, they finally pulled away and Luke gave her a passionate, long awaited kiss.

"I better go deal with Kirk," he said. "And you should get out of here." He looked around and Lorelai knew he meant the storage room, not the diner.

She smiled and walked back out into the main part of the diner where Kirk was sitting. Luke went over and gave Kirk his receipt.

Lorelai sat down at the counter, and Luke poured her a cup of coffee as he waited for Kirk to pay.

Lorelai and Luke made eye contact, and neither dared to break it. It was like they were battling, but there was no winner.

As usual, Kirk interrupted their moment by waving the money in the air and saying, "Oh Luke!"

Luke rolled his eyes and grabbed the money from Kirk.

"Now get out of here," he said.

"Fine." Kirk stormed out.

Luke came back to the counter and stood across from Lorelai. "Hey," he said with a smirk.

"Hey." Lorelai smiled up at him.

"I missed you," she said to him.

"I missed you too."

"How was day two?" He asked.

"Ugh." Lorelai sighed. "They were annoying and rude."

"Sorry."

"How was your day?" Lorelai asked.

"The usual. Not too busy but not too slow. Kirk was in here all day."

Lorelai chuckled because she could hear the annoyance in his voice.

"You wanna go out with me?" Luke asked.

"What?"

"Tomorrow night. Actually go out, like on a date or something."

"But you hate dating."

"Yeah, but you don't, and I don't hate you."

"Really?" Lorelai asked.

"Uh… yeah."

"No, I mean the date part, not the hating me part."

"Yes to that too."

Lorelai turned to look him in the eyes, and she smiled when their gazes met.

"I missed you," she said sweetly.

"You already said that."

"I know, but I _really_ missed you."

Luke smirked at her and leaned in for a kiss. "Come on," he said as he pulled away, grabbing her hand. He led her up the stairs to his apartment.

She followed him in to the apartment, immediately dropping her purse on the floor. She held on to Luke as he led her to the couch. No communication was needed because they both knew where this was going. Luke fell onto the couch and Lorelai climbed on top of him, kissing him passionately. She laughed against his lips when she realized what position they were in.

"What?" He asked when there was an opening between their kisses.

"I was just… thinking… we're two adults… making out… like teenagers." Lorelai finished her thought between kisses.

Luke realized what this position would look like to anyone not in it, and he stopped kissing her for a second to think. She used her arms to push herself up and away from his face for a second. They were laying down, her on top of him, on a couch shorter than both of their heights.

"Who cares," he said, pulling her back down on top of him.

She giggled as their lips smashed together when he pulled her back down.

This was it. This was that happy feeling everyone has in the movies. Lorelai thought it didn't exist, that it was all a lie to make people hopeful and happy, but she was wrong. This was that feeling. This is the happiest Lorelai has ever been in a relationship.

After a few minutes in that exact position, the phone began to ring.

"Just leave it," Luke said in between kisses.

"But what if… it's… an emergency."

"It's not."

"But-"

Luke silenced her by biting her lower lip. With a giggle, she joined back in. Of course, the phone didn't stop ringing and the answering machine picked up.

" _Hey, Luke?"_

Lorelai and Luke jumped off the couch when they heard the familiar voice.

" _I'm not sure if this is still your number, but I'm guessing it is since you still own the diner. Anyways, it's Caroline. I know it's been a while since I saw you and Lorelai at the beach, but I was wondering if tomorrow would be a good time to stop by and look over the pictures? Sorry I took so long. Call me back. Thanks."_

"Woah." Luke didn't know what to think.

"Yeah, woah."

"I forgot about that."

"You forgot about that?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah."

"You forgot we saw your ex, aka my childhood best friend taking pictures of us on the beach?" Lorelai asked.

"It's been weeks!" Luke pointed out.

"Yeah…" The truth is, Lorelai would never forget. Of course she knew not to judge Luke by what happened because that would be wrong. That's not who he is, but she still thought about it.

"And she is not my ex."

"Well, you slept with her."

"That doesn't make her my ex."

"It kind of does."

"Lorelai…" Luke warned.

She backed off. "Call her back."

"What?" Luke asked, surprised by the change of mood.

"Tell her tomorrow's fine."

"Why?" Luke had no idea what to think. Lorelai was confusing him.

"Because I want the pictures!" She stood up from the couch and he stayed down.

"Oh." Luke showed no signs of getting up any time soon.

"I'll call her."

When she got to the phone, she pressed the redial button.

" _Hello?"_

"Hi, Caroline?" Lorelai asked.

" _This is she."_

"This is Lorelai."

" _Oh! Hi Lorelai!"_

"Hi, um, sorry we couldn't get to the phone earlier, we were in the middle of something."

Luke let out a little chuckle when Lorelai said that. Of course, he had to add what she would normally say in that situation. "Dirty."

Lorelai smiled at him but didn't say anything because of the phone.

" _Oh, is this still his apartment number?"_

"Yes…"

" _Do you live with him there?"_

"Oh, no. No way. My daughter and I live in a house a few minutes away."

" _Oh, well, that's nice. Wait, you have a daughter? How old is she? Is she Luke's?"_

"Oh, no. God, no. She's 16. Actually, Christopher… and I…"

Luke winced when he heard Christopher's name.

" _Oh my God! Christopher? You guys were best friends! And she's 16? You must have been, what, 16?"_

"Yes. I got knocked up when I was 15. Um, enough of that." Lorelai was getting annoyed with Caroline's questions. She always hated when people judged her about getting pregnant so young. "We were calling back to tell you that tomorrow is great. Please stop by."

" _Okay, I will. See you guys tomorrow."_

"Bye." Lorelai let out a big exhale as she hung up the phone. "I hate that."

"What?" Luke asked.

"'Wow, so you were, what, 16?' I hate when people judge me because of how old I was when I had Rory. You never judged me."

"Well…"

"You never judged me for my age. You judge me for a lot of other reasons."

Luke smiled up at her.

"Nice dirty by the way."

"Well, I learned from the best."

Lorelai started to unbutton her shirt, and Luke raised his eyebrows. She smirked at him and started backing up towards the bed. As she sat down onto the bed, he stood up off of the couch.

When he got to her, he helped her finish all of the buttons and slowly pulled her shirt off.

She started to unbutton his flannel. "We have to make up for the past two nights."

"Mhmm" was all he could say. He lost focus when he saw her lacy bra.

Soon enough, all of their clothes were scattered around the floor, and they were going at it again.

* * *

"I hate your alarm!" Lorelai groaned as Luke's alarm blared in her ear.

He leaned over her and pressed the snooze button.

"Don't you have to open today?" Lorelai asked as he kissed her neck.

"Yeah."

"You're not getting up?"

"No."

Lorelai smiled and Luke kept kissing her.

After a few minutes, the alarm went off again and they both groaned.

"We better get up." Lorelai pulled the sheet off the bed with her to cover herself up. "What time tonight?"

Luke smiled. "I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds great." Lorelai smiled at him and then proceeded to get dressed.

"You'll come by before then, right?" Luke asked as he pulled his pants up.

"Try and stop me."

After a few minutes, they were both fully dressed. Lorelai still had to go home, take a shower, and change before work, but Luke had to get down to the diner as soon as possible.

They submerged down the stairs together and saw the crowd waiting outside. Luke sure did have his fair-share of loyal customers. Everyday, the same group of customers would come in for opening.

Lorelai and Luke watched as the expression on everyone's faces turned from annoyed, to surprised, to annoyed again. At first, they were annoyed because opening was a little later than usual, due to Lorelai and Luke's sleeping in. The surprised look was when they saw the two of them emerge from the staircase. Their emotions changed back to annoyed because this has happened multiple times before, and at this rate, it didn't seem like it was going to stop.

"Sorry… sorry." Luke opened the door and let his customers in.

As soon as all the customers were inside, Lorelai waved Luke off and he winked back at her before she walked out of the door.

* * *

"Well, you look happy!" Sookie exclaimed when Lorelai walked through the door.

"Of course."

"What's with the good mood? I need _all_ the details."

"I stayed at Luke's last night."

"Sex? Did you have sex?" Sookie asked, a little too loudly for Lorelai's taste.

"Shh. And of course, sex is a given, but that's not why I'm happy. Well, it is." Lorelai said, correcting herself. "But it's not the main reason."

"Ooh, intrigue. What's the main reason?"

"We're going out on a _date._ Tonight." Lorelai really emphasized the word date.

"But Luke doesn't date. He doesn't _do_ dates."

"I know." Lorelai smiled.

Sookie's eyes instantly widened and her smile grew atleast twice as big. "Oh my God! He's popping the question! Lorelai! He's popping the question!"

"What? Sookie, no. We haven't even told each other we love each other."

"But you love him?" Sookie asked.

"Yes."

"And he loves you. He's popping the question!"

"Sookie! No! Luke and I are not getting engaged."

"Why not? Don't you want to?"

Lorelai laughed at how confused Sookie was with this situation.

"Because he isn't asking me. He wouldn't ask this soon."

"Are you sure?" Sookie asked. "Because no one has ever seen him this happy."

"I'm sure, Sook."

"Oh, well, okay. Tell me everything anyways."

"I will, I promise."

Lorelai left the kitchen to go back to work. She had her lunch break around noon and decided to head over to Luke's.

When she walked in, the diner was packed. She took a seat at her usual spot on the counter, and it took Luke a couple minutes to get to her. When he finally got back around the counter, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before he poured her coffee.

"Pretty busy, huh?" Lorelai asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah. More than usual. That big group is about to leave, though." Luke said, gesturing to a party of over 10 people, taking up atleast 4 tables. They were all packing up and pushing in their chairs until finally, they left the diner. It was instantly quieter, and less stressful.

Luke went over and fixed the tables back to their original positions. When he was done, he came back to Lorelai.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"It's fine." Lorelai smiled up at him. "Where are we going tonight?" she asked.

"It's a secret," he responded.

"Luke! Tell me!"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because it will ruin the surprise."

Luke's response actually made Lorelai nervous. _The surprise?_ What was the surprise? Was Sookie right? Could Luke be asking her to marry him? No. No way. _No way._ That was not going to happen. Luke wasn't that type of man, and of course, he had to know she's not ready. She decided to push those thoughts to the back of her mind.

"Okay…" Lorelai responded awkwardly.

Luke could tell something was troubling Lorelai, so he gave in. "It's a restaurant. From my past…" he added.

"Oh. Okay." This revelation made Lorelai a little less unsettled, but she still wasn't sure what he was thinking, or how far he was going to go. In a way, that revelation was even more unsettling. If Luke was going to propose, an old restaurant from his past is definitely a good place to do it.

Luke looked at Lorelai and he could tell she was being distant. He couldn't figure out why she was acting that way. Did he say something? Did he _do_ something? He was a little nervous for the dinner now that she was acting this way. He had planned on telling her he loved her, nothing more, but even this started to seem like too much when he saw the way she was acting. _No… Luke Danes, no. You are telling this woman you love her, no matter what happens._

Both Luke and Lorelai were lost in thought until they heard the oh-so-familiar jingle of the bell on the door. Lorelai turned around, and Luke looked up to find Caroline walking into the diner.

"Hey guys," she greeted.

"Hi." Both Luke and Lorelai responded simultaneously.

"Do you have the pictures?" Lorelai asked excitedly, hopping off the stool.

Now Luke knew something was up. She was acting weird, but not to everyone. _Just_ him. With everyone else, she was her usual self.

Luke sighed and walked around the counter to see the pictures that Lorelai and Caroline were already looking over.

"These are even better than I remember!" Lorelai exclaimed.

They spread all of the prints out on a table and sat down. Luke stayed standing, looking down at them and the pictures, trying to figure out what Lorelai was thinking.

Lorelai picked out a group of pictures from the ones Caroline had brought. "What about these?" She asked, looking up at Luke.

"Huh?" Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"These pictures," she clarified. "Do you like them?"

Luke didn't even take the time to look through them before responding. "Yeah, sure."

"Luke, you didn't even look at them."

"Whatever you want is fine. Now hurry up, I need the table."

Luke walked back to the counter and started wiping it down.

Lorelai was hurt. How could he do that? How could he just embarrass her like that? Especially in front of Caroline. A girl she knew as a child, and a girl he used to sleep with.

"Um, sorry." Lorelai said, turning back to Caroline. "I'm not sure what just happened. These are fine, how much?" Lorelai looked down at the group of pictures she picked out.

"Take them for free."

"No, Caroline, I couldn't do that. You had to pay to get these printed." Lorelai protested.

"Think of them as a gift from a friend. You're the one helping me out. My portfolio and everything."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm 100% sure."

"Thanks." Lorelai smiled and put the pictures in her purse. She walked over to Luke at the counter. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered, not making eye contact.

"Okay…" She leaned up to kiss him and he gave her a quick, insincere peck on the lips before wiping the counter again.

Lorelai took another look at him, not sure what just happened, before she walked out of the diner. She gave Caroline a little wave before going back to the Inn.

When Caroline finished packing up her stuff, she went over to talk to Luke. "What the hell was that?" She asked.

"What?" Luke rolled his eyes.

"The way you were just talking to Lorelai. What was that?"

"Nothing, Caroline," Luke warned.

"Oh no, that was something, Luke. You were so rude to her!"

"Please."

"And that kiss? You might as well have been a 5th grade boy being forced to kiss his mom goodbye on the first day of school in front of all of his friends."

"What's your point?" Luke asked, dropping his towel on the counter and turning to look at Caroline.

"My point is, what's wrong, and why were you being such an ass to her?"

Luke rolled his eyes, but he knew she was right. He took a second before answering.

"I was supposed to take her on a date tonight."

"A date? You don't date." Caroline interrupted him.

"I _know,_ I don't date."

"Sorry."

"I was going to tell her I love her, tonight."

"And? What's the problem?"

"The problem is, when she came in here, she was acting like she had just seen a ghost, and she wouldn't tell me what was wrong. And then you come in, and she's totally fine. She's mad at me about something."

"Luke, she seemed totally fine. You were the one being a jerk."

He sighed. "I know. I just… this is a big thing for me… telling her that. I'm starting to feel like she doesn't want to hear it."

"Luke, it looks more like she's getting tired of waiting for you to say it."

He sighed.

"Tell her. Don't wait."

Caroline went in for a hug and Luke returned the action.

"Thanks," he said. She smiled at him and left the diner.

* * *

Around 7:00 that night, Luke drove over to Lorelai's. He knew to be late and waited out in the truck until 7:10. When he finally walked up to the door, he was greeted by Lorelai yelling from inside the house.

"Sorry! Come in!"

Luke laughed and opened her door. He shook his head as he shut it behind him. She _really_ needed to start locking things. He walked over to the stairs and listened to the rummaging upstairs.

"Just a minute, Luke!" Lorelai yelled again.

In a few minutes, she came rushing down the stairs.

"Wow," he said, staring at her.

Lorelai smiled and her cheeks started to redden. She smiled at him.

"You look amazing."

"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied, lightly punching him on the chest.

Their interaction was awkward, but that feeling was overpowered by the look of lust in their eyes.

"Uh, here." Luke grabbed the jacket Lorelai was holding and headed out to the truck. He opened the door for her and closed it as she got in.

"Luke?" She asked as he got in on his side.

"What?" He shut the door and started to put his seatbelt on.

"I was going to wait to talk about this until later, but I really want to know right now."

Luke looked around nervously, and Lorelai took his silent response as an invitation to keep talking.

"What was wrong? Earlier at the diner, today. Something was up."

Luke sighed. "I know. I'm sorry I was acting like a jerk. I got a little insecure and I guess that's how I dealt with it."

"Insecure? Why?"

"When you came in, you were acting a little distant. I don't know. It was probably just my imagination. Anyway, I got nervous about tonight and one thing lead to another and I ended up ignoring you."

"You weren't imagining it." Lorelai looked down to her lap, wondering if she should tell him about Sookie's prediction.

"What?"

"Me. Acting distant. You weren't imagining it."

"Oh…" Luke was waiting for an explanation.

"I, uh, I got a little nervous too." Lorelai looked back up at Luke.

"Why?"

"Um…" Lorelai let out a chuckle. "This is probably going to sound really silly, unless it's true, in which case I'm going to feel like a jerk." Lorelai took a deep breath. "Sookie mentioned something about you… maybe… pr- prop- proposing to me… tonight."

Luke's eyes widened.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I got really nervous. I, I mean, I love you, but I'm not ready for that."

Luke's eyes widened even more and he inhaled sharply. He was at a loss for words. She just said she loves him. He was supposed to be the one to tell her.

"Luke?" Lorelai didn't even realize what she had just said.

"Propose?" He asked, a little too quickly.

"Uh, yeah. I told Sookie you were taking me on a date and she thought that's what it meant. Then you started talking about surprises and childhood restaurants and I freaked out."

He smiled. "I wasn't going to propose," was all Luke could get out of his mouth.

Lorelai felt a sensation of relief wash over her, but then, it turned a little bit to sadness. Of course, she didn't want to get married to Luke this early, but was the idea of them being married so bad?

"Oh… w-well then, why were you nervous?"

"I was nervous because of a certain word you just said."

Lorelai thought to herself. The only word she could think of at the moment was 'propose'.

"Like I said, I planned for something to happen tonight, and when you came in to the diner with that look like something was wrong, I felt like maybe you didn't want to hear what I was going to say."

"You lo-" she started, realizing what he meant. She was quickly cut off by his voice.

"I love you, Lorelai Gilmore."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as he said it and a smile started to form on her face.

"That's all I was planning for tonight."

Lorelai smiled at him, staring into his honest eyes.

"I love you too."

He leaned in for a soft, meaningful kiss.

When they pulled away, they both knew they were back. No more awkwardness. They were back to being a happy, bantering couple, and Lorelai acted upon that.

"Well now that we've said it, I guess there's no reason to go out on this date now. I'll head inside and meet you at the diner tomorrow for coffee." Lorelai jokingly opened the door.

"Funny," Luke said, pulling her back towards him and kissing her, harder this time.

She smiled against his lips.

When they pulled apart, she tried to get him to cave again. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere."

"Agh." She sighed in fake annoyance.

Luke looked over at her and started the truck.

"You ready?" He asked.

* * *

 **A/N – Guys! I'm sorry about the cliffhanger!**

 **I promise I'll make up for it in the next chapter. I'm not sure how, yet, but I'll figure it out. Honestly, I plan for certain things to happen but then as I'm writing, my mind just goes somewhere else.**

 **Anyways, please review! I really appreciate it. Comments, suggestions, criticism, questions.**

 **Also, read my other story "Departures and Returns." It's a 3-chapter story and so far 2 of 3 have been posted. Each chapter is around 10,000 words on that story so it is long. Please review that one too!**

 **I'll stop lying by saying the next chapter is going to be out soon because I honestly don't know. I'll just say that I promise to get it out as soon as possible.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


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